Moving On
by Firefly's Love and Loyalty
Summary: Post CoLS, spoilers. Magnus and Alec have some serious issues to work out. Will they get back together? Will they ever figure out who keeps kidnapping people? Will Jace ever stop reading Isabelle's Cosmos? MALEC angst, but it'll have a happy ending, I PROMISE. Also, warning for extremely gay depiction of Jace. 3/15/13: I've brought it back from the dead.
1. Damn

**WARNING: SPOILERS FOR CITY OF LOST SOULS.**

**Author's** **Note:** _After writing _Wings That Fly You Higher Than Heaven_, I wanted to write Malec that was a little bit more characteristic of Magnus and Alec. They're both extremely stubborn, Magnus was betrayed by Alec, and Alec is still hurting from Magnus pushing him away. BUT THEY (in spite of this fic's title) WILL HAVE THEIR HAPPY ENDING DAMNIT!_

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_**Damn-to condemn (to hell), Used to express anger, irritation, disappointment, annoyance, contempt, etc. (English)**_

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**Moving On**

Chapter 1: Damn**  
**

_**Two Weeks Post-COLS, Magnus' Brooklyn Apartment, Late Evening, Magnus' POV**_

_Damn, _Magnus Bane, High Warlock of Brooklyn, thought, sitting on his couch, half-empty beer bottle in one hand, the other slung over his eyes. The front door of his apartment slammed shut, and Magnus sighed. That was the fifth… no, sixth man he'd brought home in just over two weeks. He'd found a pair of pants that weren't his, and certainly weren't Magnus', they had far too many holes and were two sizes too big for the warlock. He'd accused Magnus of using him to cheat on another man and then stormed out.

Removing his arm from his eyes, he opened them to see the wall of his apartment. Until recently, it had been a pale canary yellow, but now it was red. Blood red. _You're getting too dramatic for your own good, you old fool, _Magnus thought, standing. He wobbled a little as he rose, the bottle in his hand was this third or fourth.

He wandered back into the kitchen, putting the bottle on the table. The small silver key still sat where _he_ had left it, an unopened note next to it. The note had taunted him every day. Sitting down, he stared at the shiny key until Chairman Meow jumped onto the table and walked into his field of vision. Reaching out to pet the white fluffball, his hand seemed to have a mind of its own as it grabbed the note sitting next to the cat. Bringing it back to his lap, he opened it. In _his_ handwriting, angular and cramped, was written:

_Magnus–_

_I know you'll probably never forgive me. But, seeing as I could very well die in the next few weeks, I needed to tell you this. What I did was insane. Totally, completely insane. I don't know what made me follow that note the first day from Camille, but I do, sadly, know what kept me coming back. She knew you, way back when. And I know you tell me you try not to dwell on your past, but… you didn't dwell on it enough for me. I always wanted to know more about who __**you**__ were, not who the High Warlock was._

_Camille was the only way I could find to accomplish that, seeing as you weren't talking, and you'd always change the subject. Or jump me. Magnus, I don't know why we never just talked, but that's one of my greatest regrets. I can't imagine the betrayal you feel right now, but I also don't think you can imagine the hole left in my heart knowing that it's all my fault and if I just hadn't been so __stupid__, it could have been prevented. _

_I'm not asking you for forgiveness. I'm asking you to move on with your life. You have eternity. Take it. I'll always love you, Magnus Bane. Never forget that. _

–_Alexander Lightwood_

_Damn,_ Magnus thought, tossing the note back on the table. Even through words, _he_ could still steal Magnus' breath and heart. He knew he should burn it. It would be the sensible thing to do. But he couldn't. Instead, he took the note and the key and a lock of hair he had stolen from _his_ head one night, and put them in an envelope. Pulling open the closet, he dug out a chest that contained his memories. Magnus dug through the chest, until he reached the picture he had pulled out six months before, the one of Tessa, Will, Jem, and the rest. It had been nearly fifty years before since he had seen that picture and now twice in a year. He returned it to the pile and threw the envelope in with it. Slamming the cover down, he put the trunk back in the closet and out of his mind.

Life would have to go on, of course. There was a war to prepare for. So he shoved his feelings behind a brick wall and stood up straight. Tonight he would go to bed and tomorrow morning he would wake up ready for the world.

The buzz of his doorbell brought Magnus out of sleep. His head pounding with the alcohol he had consumed last night, he swung his legs over the side of the bed and rose to get the door. Having entered the kitchen and pressed the button, he asked, "Who is it, and what do you want at"-he glanced at the clock-"Eight o'clock in the morning?"

"It's Elowen," the voice on the other end said.

"Elowen, go away. I told you. I don't want to be bothered by petty problems any more. I've got my own problems to deal with," Magnus said darkly.

"Magnus, just let me come up for five minutes. If you don't like what I have to say, I'll leave," Elowen promised.

Magnus released the speaker's button and swore, but still buzzed Elowen in. A few minutes later, Magnus was decent in pajama pants and an oversized tee shirt (very pointedly _not _one of _his_), and let Elowen in. She breezed past him and sat down at the table, throwing a wrapped package on it.

"That's what you asked me to find, and I have it on reputable sources that it works. Not that I'm going to try, mind you," Elowen said.

"El, thank you, but…" Magnus started.

"But you don't want it anymore?" Elowen said with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't know what I want anymore," Magnus said, staring at the bundle. "What do I owe you?"

"A favour. To be redeemed at a future time," she said.

"What kind of favour?" Magnus asked, his eyes narrowing.

"It won't be too burdensome, I promise," Elowen said.

"Fine. Now, can you please tell whoever is buzzing that I'm not available today, on your way out?" Magnus asked, standing.

"Very well." Elowen followed suit. As she left, she turned back to Magnus and said, "Magnus? Sometimes it's better to forgive than to stick to your principles."

Magnus only blinked as he shut the door behind her. Looking around the apartment, he realized he hadn't cleaned it in nearly a month, since he'd summoned Azazel, the ring was still left on the floor. He normally took a few minutes each week to cast a few spells that set the place to rights, since having parties tended to mess it up. But there hadn't been any parties lately. And he didn't want to use magic to clean it. He was sick and tired of magic. Magic had ripped his boyfriend, no, the love of his life, away, and he wanted nothing to do with it for the moment. Besides, he could use the physical labour to take his mind off of his problems.

He walked to his computer and clicked randomly on the first song on his iTunes. Turning the volume up so loud he couldn't hear himself think, he reached under the sink for the seldom-used cleaning tools. He knew how to use them, of course. One didn't live eighty decades without figuring out a damn mop.

Three hours later, Magnus' arms hurt, but the place was sparkling clean. If his general mood had been better, he might have smiled, but as it was, he only grunted and put the supplies away. Three trashbags were full of things he had discarded from his bedroom, his piles of glitter among them. If he was moving on with his life, he was going to do it with a new attitude. One day at a time. Damn.

He sunk back into the depths of his despair and was about to conjure himself some hard liquor when a knock resounded on his front door. Cursing whoever was out there, he went into his kitchen and opened the door. On the other side stood someone who he'd hoped he'd never see again.

"What do you want?" he asked her flatly, barely managing not to slam the door in her face.

"Nothing you can give _me_, Bane. I'm here to give you this," Isabelle Lightwood said, handing Magnus a tote bag. "My brother threw this stuff out into the hallway before locking himself in his room and drinking himself into a stupor for two weeks. I hope you're happy with what you've done, warlock. I should've told him off from the beginning, but he was too in love with you. You do know that, right? He was, still is, in love with you."

"Of course I know that, Isabelle. That's why… Never mind. Goodbye," he said, emotions crashing through him as he shut and locked the door on her face.

Love. It was a foolish human emotion. Magnus sighed and opened the bag still in his hand. In it were all the pictures from their vacation, a spare pair of pants, and the scarf he had wound around _his_ neck that day. The one that was the exact colour of those beautiful eyes.

Magnus threw the bag in the closet, and conjured the bottle he had been longing for before Isabelle had arrived. Maybe he wasn't ready to move on just yet.

Damn.

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_This chapter is a little shaky, especially since Magnus is angry and drunk, but as a warning, future chapters may contain an extremely gay depiction of Jace, Isabelle going slightly insane, and Alec wearing Clary's clothes. Because I can't write angst without having some crackfic thrown in. After all, crackfic is what I do best. Speaking of which, I have to go write some, because the ending of this chapter made me nearly cry. I'll leave out a box of chocolates for you guys. But remember, I only do happy endings. :). (By the way, the crackfic is *probably* going to be smutty... MAYBE.)_

_~Firefly_


	2. Lovely

**_Author's Note: ACK! I've had this mostly finished for a week, but school's ending and teachers find it appropriate to give seventy billion projects at a time. AND I ONLY HAVE FOUR CLASSES. Anyway, here's how Alec's been dealing with it. Jace is... well... you'll see. I'm using Jace way too much. I don't really like him (that's a different topic), but he's got an important part in this. Unfortunately. I promise Magnus is going to be fine. Anyone have any guesses as to what was in Elowen's box? :) _**

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**_Lovely-exquisitely beautiful (English)_**

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**Moving On**

Chapter 2: Lovely

Alec Lightwood sat in his darkened room, considering whether it was worth the effort to get up and get another bottle of liquor. He had just decided it wasn't when his door burst open. Isabelle stepped in, a scowl on her face. Lovely.

"You're going to have to come out of this room sometime. There's a Brax demon on the loose in Staten Island. I won't ask you to help with the Marles infestation in Brooklyn, but Mom essentially ordered me to get you out of here. I'll get Jace to carry your ass out, if I have to," she said.

Alec's response was to throw a pillow at her that, considering his normal aim, missed comically, and flew out the door.

"Nice shot," she remarked, turning to call over her shoulder. "Jace, come in here and carry this sack of bones out of here, would you?"

Jace stuck his head through the doorway cautiously. Ascertaining the lack of pillows in Alec's immediate vicinity, he stepped in. "Really, Iz? He can't lift himself?"

"Apparently not," Isabelle replied.

"All righty then," Jace said, approaching Alec and grabbing one of his ankles. He pulled Alec off the bed and, grabbing his other ankle, dragged him out the door. Alec swore at him, but Jace didn't stop. Apparently he had smelled the alcohol that permeated Alec's room (or had just smelled Alec), because he dragged him to the bathroom. Jace lifted his _parabatai _and dumped him in the tub. Turning the water on –cold—he began to strip off Alec's filthy clothes.

Alec, finally coming to his (hazy) senses, sputtered and pushed Jace's hands away. Jace stepped back and held out a hand. Alec, now sopping wet, glared at him, but he pulled the shower curtain shut and handed the remaining clothes to Jace, who dumped them in the hamper.

Alec turned back to the shower and turned the knob to hot. He was drunk, but not that drunk. He realized belatedly, having already forfeited his clothes, that Jace, instead of dumping him in their shower, had dragged him into the girls' bathroom, so the shower was full of Isabelle's flowery body wash and Clary's anti-frizz cotton candy scented shampoo. Lovely. He sighed. It was probably just as well. All his stuff smelled like sandalwood, and he _so_ didn't need that reminder at this point.

Grabbing Isabelle's shampoo—he didn't want to know what Clary's would do to his hair, be began to wash two weeks' crap out of his hair. He froze for a moment, realizing what he had just thought. When did he start caring about his hair? He shook it off, and continued scrubbing at his head. It took nearly twenty minutes to get the black mass squeaky clean, but it finally did. The rest of the shower went more quickly, and he shut off the water to find Jace sitting on the toilet, reading one of Isabelle's _Cosmo_s.

He wrapped a towel around himself and said, "And I thought _I_ was supposed to be the gay one here."

Jace looked up and shrugged. "Apparently, Isabelle needs tricks to get into Simon's pants. I don't know how well some of these will work though, considering the whole vampire thing."

"Hey, pretty boy, that's our sister you're talking about," Alec said, towel drying his hair and pulling on the shirt Jace held out to him.

"I know. I'm the one stuck reading her trashy magazines while you wash the alcohol out of your hair. Are you still drunk?" Jace said, averting his eyes while Alec finished dressing.

"Probably. Why _are_ you still in here, anyway?" Alec asked, fastening the buckle on his belt.

"Isabelle made me promise to stay so you couldn't hang yourself on the shower curtain or something," Jace said, holding out a bottle.

"If I wanted to kill myself, I have better ways of doing it," Alec muttered. "What is that?"

"It's a…an… anti-drink, I guess is the best way to put it. Iz says it'll dull the alcohol in your system, but you'll have a bitch of a headache tomorrow. Which you probably deserve, anyway. I'm under strict orders to sit on you and force it down your throat if you don't drink it," Jace explained.

Alec took the bottle, scowled at it, and drank the whole thing in one gulp. He shook his head and made a face. "It tastes like a combination of dirty socks and ass."

"Because you know what that tastes like?" Jace asked, amused, as Alec chased his potion with water.

"The former, yes, unfortunately," Alec said. Running his fingers through his hair, he asked, "How do I look?"

"Like hell. And you need a shave," Jace replied.

Alec looked at himself in the mirror. Dark circles lined his eyes, his hair stuck to his forehead in wet strands. He was pale normally, but two weeks in a dark room consuming not much more than the nearest alcoholic beverage and whatever his family snuck in while he was sleeping had not done wonders for his complexion. Dark stubble lined his chin, looking like ink on paper.

"You know… I think I'm going to grow a beard," Alec said after a moment, running his hand over his face.

"Uh…Alec… I don't think that's a good idea," said Jace. "Although _Cosmo_ thinks beards are wonderfully tickly and sensual. And _Cosmo_ is totes fabu."

Alec blinked and raised an eyebrow. "That's the gayest thing I've ever heard come out of your mouth, Jace."

"Still. Don't grow a beard, please? THINK OF THE CHILDREN!" Jace said, throwing his hand over his forehead dramatically.

_Whatever was in Glorious that got into him has made him…nuts. Completely, totally nuts,_ Alec thought.

"It's my face, and I'll do with it what I damn well please. Now did Isabelle say something about a Brax demon in Staten Island?" Alec said, changing the subject abruptly.

Jace sobered and said, "Yep. We're going to get you into gear and meet Iz and Clary there."

Alec sighed. He was going to have to come out of his room some time and move on with his life. He couldn't dwell on Magnus forever. He tried to shove the thought out of his mind, but as always, there was a faint sparkle of glitter at the edge of his consciousness.

They left the bathroom and passed Clary in the hall. She stopped, looked Alec up and down and furrowed her brows. "Alec… I know you're in need of clean clothes and you're gay and all, but don't you think stealing my clothes is a little low?"

Alec looked down at himself, confused. It was then he saw the shirt he was wearing. It was white, but read, in three-inch letters "The bigger the bow, the better the outfit". He shifted his gaze to Jace.

"Well, Clary, I wasn't the one who took it. Your boyfriend handed it to me. I have this theory that when you stabbed him with Glorious, you infected him with some gay pathogen," Alec said.

"Being gay's a disease now?" Clary asked, confused.

"Not if you're born with it, but in Jace's case… it borders on being a deadly condition. _He used the phrase 'totes fabu',_" Alec said.

Clary looked at Jace, looked back at Alec, then doubled over laughing. "I'm…sorry…Jacey…but… I think …it's…gone…on long…enough," She finally managed to sputter out.

"What?" Jace asked, innocently.

"Nothing dear, nothing," Clary said, still giggling as she walked away. "_Totes fabu?_"

"Jacey?" Alec asked, cocking his head.

"Shut up," Jace said, blushing.

Alec shook his head and headed for the armory.

Two hours later, Alec was back to back with Jace as a demon's head swung into his field of vision. "Got it!" he shouted.

He danced forward, attempting to get the seraph blade into the demon's eye. It took advantage of the opening Alec left, and snapped its teeth at Jace's back. It nearly had him, but suddenly, a line of gold followed by the green demon ichor appeared on the nose, Isabelle's whip. Alec took the opportunity to vault onto the thing's neck, and sat, trying to get the blade between the plates behind its head.

It was distracted long enough for Jace to take a few steps forward and drive his blade into the eye, at the same moment Alec slipped his blade into its head. It gave one last toss, one that shook Alec off and sent him flying, and fell to the ground, dead.

Alec lay on the ground at the base of the wall he had hit, temporarily stunned. After verifying the demon's death, Jace ran over to Alec and nudged him with his foot to make sure he was still alive. "Hey, Alec. I'M the shiny boy who can come back to life here, not you, remember?"

Alec blinked and passed a hand over his eyes, "Only too well, Jacey."

Jace rolled his eyes and held out an arm to help Alec up. Alec took it, and as he came to his feet, he started swaying. Isabelle rushed over and supported his other side.

"You took a good knock on the head there. Let's get you home and have Mom take a look at that. It's probably not going to help your headache in the morning," she said.

Lines began to swim before Alec's eyes, he had hit his head on the wall pretty hard. "That… sounds like a very good idea."

They started to walk forward, but Alec was tripping over his own feet so much that Jace finally sighed and just threw his _parabatai_ over his shoulder. Clary raised an eyebrow at this.

"I know you're into reading Iz's girly magazines, but do you really need to be throwing men over your shoulder? Am I not enough anymore?" she said, throwing a hand over her face and turning away dramatically.

Jace rolled his eyes again and shook his head. "You know I can't resist those beautiful thighs of Alec's," he said.

Alec groaned and smacked Jace's ass. Jace jumped, nearly dropping his load.

"Thought you were into that, Jacey," Alec said.

"Iz, what did you put into that drink?" Jace asked, looking at Isabelle.

"A little of this, a little of that. It's given him a little taste of…healing, shall we say. He'll get to be like this in time. It's who he is when he's not under the illusion that he's in love with you, and that he needs to hide his gayness. Also, those brownies we gave him? They were from Simon. He said his friend got them from a friend who knows a guy who knows this cute little bakery that specializes in 'special' brownies," she said, a little sheepishly.

"You mean he's a little drunk and a little high?" Jace asked, as they hailed a cab.

"Yep," Isabelle replied.

"Lovely."

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_**I love writing Isabelle. And thank you to my friend for giving me the idea for Alec's shirt (by the way, he never takes it off during this chapter). Hopefully Magnus will actually DO something next chapter. I don't know whether he's going to be extremely crazy or a creeper. I'm leaning towards the latter. **_

_**~Firefly**_


	3. Rescue

**_AN: Here, have a much needed chapter._**

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_**Rescue-To save from any violence, danger or evil. (English)**_

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**Moving On**

Chapter 3: Rescue

Magnus surveyed the wreckage of the room before him. A client had hired him to rid the place of a ghost, and he had succeeded, as well as destroyed some furniture. He'd never tell the man of course, but he had only broken it to take out his frustration. He still couldn't get _him_ out of his mind. He had tried everything.

Sleeping with everything.

Not sleeping with anyone.

Cleaning, breaking things, no magic, only magic.

It didn't work, of course.

Nothing worked.

Nothing.

He took the money the man proffered and walked out the door, slamming it behind him. Down the stairs, and out of the building, he started walking aimlessly through the streets of Brooklyn. He saw the flicker of demon taint everywhere. He knew why Brooklyn was getting darker by the day, and why the rate of crime had had an inexplicable increase after a solid decade of decline. The Shadowhunters weren't taking care of the demons that cropped up, because they wouldn't come to Brooklyn because he was there and Magnus imagined _he_ didn't want to get within five miles of him. He didn't blame him, but it was affecting the mundane world, and something would have to be done about it. The easiest way would probably be just to send an anonymous note to the Institute, but that was easy, and Magnus didn't do easy.

Instead, as he meandered, he concocted an elaborate plan. It might have been masochistic, but for some ungodly reason, Magnus wanted to see _him _again. Just to see how he was doing. He didn't want to talk to him. He didn't even want _him_ to know he was there, but he did want to see him. His plan laid in his mind, he turned a corner, trying to figure out where he was. He knew Brooklyn pretty well, having lived there for nearly half a century, but this area was unfamiliar to him. Graffiti lined the walls several stories up, and shady looking young men in baggy pants and knit caps stood in groups, glancing occasionally over at him.

Magnus knew a bad situation when he saw one, he _had_ lived through the latter part of the Middle Ages, after all. And, he decided, a fight was exactly what he was looking for. He was a promising target, skinny, no obvious weapons, looking lost. A group of the shady young men approached him, not being too subtle about it.

"Nice night for a walk, isn't it, Les?" the one to Magnus' immediate left said to one of his compatriots.

"It's lovely. What do you think, stranger?" Les asked Magnus.

"It's alright. I just broke up with someone though, so everything seems grey to me," Magnus said, attempting to appear oblivious to the "dangerous" men following him.

"Oh, that's too bad. Come with us, we can get you some hot tail that'll make you forget whatever bitch dumped you," the first speaker said.

"Oh, that's okay. And besides, I don't think your definition of 'hot tail' fits in with mine. And I actually dumped him, not the other way around," Magnus replied.

"You're a fag?" Les said.

"If that's how you insist on putting it, then yes, yes I am," Magnus said.

"Boys, do we like fags around here?" the first speaker, who was apparently the leader of the gang asked his cronies.

"We _love_ fags," one voice shouted.

"They bruise the prettiest," another said.

"And they cry more than the girls do," a third said, eliciting a sinister snicker from the rest of the gang.

All at once, Magnus found himself surrounded, the gang's leader smirking at him from outside the circle. Yes, this was exactly what he wanted right now. He could feel the power crackling up from the ground, and his fingers sparked with blue fire. Suddenly, a figure clothed in black dropped in front of him. A knife appeared in each hand, and a voice growled, "Ye've fifteen seconds tae get out o' here afore ye all go home singin' soprano."

The gang looked at him, then at each other, before descending on both of their targets. The stranger turned so he was back to back with Magnus. A few more seconds passed and a ball of blue light began to grow between Magnus' hands, which he then released into the half of the circle standing in front of him, knocking them unconscious, which shocked the rest of the group into freezing for half a second, long enough for Magnus' would-be rescuer to make good on his promise to Les and the group's leader. The rest took one look and fled. Magnus took a look at the carnage that surrounded him, then turned to the person who had so suddenly dropped in. He was tall, at least as tall as Magnus, and while he was definitely male, it was hard to tell any other details because his face was covered by a hood and the shadowy light of the alley.

"Let's get out o' here," he said to Magnus, knives disappearing back into his sleeves.

"That seems like a good idea. That much magic is going to bring the Shad—" Magnus stopped midsentence, realizing he had been about to reveal the existence of the Shadowhunters to a man who might just be a helpful mundane.

"'Tis safe, warlock. I'm a Shadowhunter myself. And, as ye can probably tell, out o' Scotland. The London Institute sent me here to help settle the mess ye've made of this 'Sebastian' lad," he said, pushing his hood down. "Alastair Southfire. Ye're Magnus Bane, aye?"

"Yes… I am… I'm sorry. What are you doing here? And how are you going to help with Sebastian. Not that I really care, mind you. I'm done with the New York Institute. I've washed my hands of them," Magnus said. He looked at the face Alastair revealed in pushing his hood back. Hair as dark as _his_ was cropped short, shorter than most Shadowhunters kept it. His eyes were not the shocking colour most Shadowhunters' seemed to be, merely an average green-brown. His features were also unremarkable, which made him a further odd contrast to the usually beautiful Nephilim. It was the Angel blood or something. That thought brought other memories, unwanted memories of a face twisted in a smile, thrown back in ecstasy, laughing at Chairman Meow, and a thousand other expressions, to the forefront of his mind. He pushed them away, and considered the need for another bottle of alcohol.

"Ah, I'm sorry tae hear that," Alastair said.

"It's not your fault. Do you know how to get to the Institute from here?" Magnus asked him. Even if he was fed up with Shadowhunters in general, that was no excuse for him to let this man wander around New York alone in the middle of the night.

"Aye, I ken. I'll be going, then," Alastair said.

"I suppose I'll be seeing more of you, won't I?" Magnus sighed. He had resigned himself to the fact that he would never be completely disentangled from the Nephilim. At least not in this human lifetime.

"Aye. Ye will. Take care of yourself, warlock. I'd rather not be dragging your arse out o' another gang about to beat you," Alastair said.

"Why did you save me?" Magnus suddenly asked.

"Ask me later, lad," Alastair said, turning and pulling his hood up over his face, disappearing into the shadow of the unlit alley.

_Damn Shadowhunters. They think they can just come and go without explaining anything. Damn. Again. You've gotten yourself attached to them again, Bane. Nice going. Now you're going to have to explain to this Scottish guy that you'd really rather just be left the hell alone already, and that it's none of his damned business why,_ Magnus thought.

He shoved his hands in his pockets and wandered home through the never-silent New York night.

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**_Oh man. That last bit is making me sad. I've been addicted to Star Trek: Voyager lately, and it's sucking my life away. But that's okay. It's summer. Also, I have a fish named Magnus. And one named Will. They share a tank. Magnus keeps trying to seduce Will. I think it's hilarious. _**

**_And to make this a little more interactive, do you guys think I should keep Alastair a good guy. He's already going to *cough* try to seduce Jace *cough*, but I'm not sure if I want him to be good, or if he's working with the bad guys (who you haven't met yet). _**

**_~Firefly_**


	4. Toxic

**_Toxic-poisonous, bane, noxious (English)_**

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**Moving On**

Chapter 4: Toxic**  
**

A knock, or rather the impression of a knock on the door of the Institute shook Alec out of his sleep. He groaned. He'd been taking a nap, in an attempt to stave off the hangover that Isabelle had promised. It had come with a vengeance, and he had nearly pulled his eyes out in an attempt to make it go away, but sleep was the only thing that worked. He groaned again, remembering that everyone but him was out in Brooklyn attending to some problem or other a bit of magic had caused last night. He looked over at the clock, hoping he could claim he'd been sleeping and not answer the door. It read 1:45.

He rolled out of bed, pushed his hand through his hair and pulled on a shirt, buttoning it as he went down the corridor to the entrance. By the time he got to the door, the knock had sounded three more times, and he was ready to throttle whoever was on the other side. Alec pulled the door open to find a man clad in a dark hooded sweatshirt and black pants standing there, his hand poised to knock again.

"Good…afternoon. Can I help you?" he asked, squinting in the sunlight.

"Aye. I've been sent by the British Clave to help ye sort out yer Sebastian problems," the man said.

"Oh, well then. Come in. I think. I'm the only one here at the moment, you see," Alec said, stepping back to admit the man.

"Alastair Southfire, Edinburgh," Alastair said when he had entered and Alec closed the door.

"Alexander Lightwood, New York," Alec said, sticking his hand out. "Call me Alec."

"'Tis a fine name," Alastair laughed. Alec was confused, but just laughed and scratched the back of his head.

"I take it you need a place to stay?" Alec asked.

"Aye. Ye said ye were the only on here?" Alastair said.

"Yes, everyone else is out in Brooklyn cleaning up a gang that was apparently knocked senseless by some idiot warlock, and two of them were…well… let's just say they won't be having any children any time soon," Alec said, shuddering.

Alastair scratched the back of his head. "I think those two are my fault. As for the rest, I found this gang surrounding the skinniest warlock I've ever seen, it looked like they were about tae jump him. He could've handled it himself, but I did get a wee bit of enjoyment out of knocking heads together, ye see," Alastair explained. "Especially with the epithets they were throwing around. 'Fag' and such. 'Tis just not becoming of grown men."

Alec felt his blood pressure rise at that. Gay-bashing was something he wouldn't tolerate, whether it was inside the Clave or not. And since Alastair had apparently been there…

"Did you happen to catch this warlock's name by any chance? I have a feeling my mother would like to pay him a visit and give him a lesson on the Laws," Alec asked, leading Alastair to the kitchen. "Can I get you anything to drink? I'm having hair of the dog."

"A wee bit hung over, are ye?" Alastair asked, chuckling. "Aye, I'll have apple juice, if ye've got it."

Alec poured himself a glassful of a liquid from a bottle dubiously marked _Alec, drink me, or Isabelle is going to jump down your throat._ It was sludgy and green. He groaned and filled another glass with juice for his guest before sitting down.

Alastair took the cup, and continued, "Said his name was Magnus Bane. Well, actually, he didna say so, but his reputation precedes him. I always imagined him a little more… flamboyant though."

Alec looked up from his cup of toxic waste to stare at the Scottish man. "Damn fool. He was there _at_ the signing of the Accords. He's not usually so careless," he muttered. Louder he said, "Magnus Bane is…well… he's infuriating to say the least." He was secretly proud that his voice didn't catch on Magnus' name.

"Infuriating? He said he was disgusted with the Shadowhunters," Alastair said, but he was interrupted by Isabelle's entrée into the kitchen.

"Alec, you have friends over now?" Isabelle asked, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge.

"Isabelle, Alastair. Isabelle, Alastair. He's come from Britain to help us clean up Sebastian, apparently," Alec said, still staring at the cup in front of him, afraid it might explode.

"Hello Miss Isabelle. What's a fine young lass like you doing in a lifestyle like this?" Alastair asked.

"Nice to meet you Alastair. Please, talk more," Isabelle said, sitting down on the chair between Alec and Alastair, effectively blocking Alec's view.

"Thanks Iz. I'm going for a walk to try to clear this hangover. Don't do anything stupid, eh? Simon will have my feet if something happens," Alec said, standing.

"Yes, yes, Alec, that's very nice. Now Alastair, tell me more about yourself, I want to know your whole life story," Isabelle said.

Alec shook his head as he left the kitchen, and returned to his own room. He pulled on a pair of shoes, grabbed a seraph blade and left the room. On his way out, he told his mother that Alastair had come and that he was entertaining Isabelle in the kitchen. Maryse thanked him, and Alec slipped out the door, hoping no one but Church would notice him leave. When he made it out of the courtyard, he considered it safe, and broke into a run, hoping something would take his mind off the thoughts Alastair had brought up. Isabelle's miracle hair of the dog had worked, he was going to have to give her a kiss for it.

Wrapped up in his own little world, he didn't even realize he was being followed until a bag dropped over his head and he suddenly blacked out, the last thing he felt was a pair of arms catching him before he fell.

Jace looked out the window again, as if he could will Alec into being. "Did he say when he was going to be home?" he asked Isabelle for the thousandth time.

"No, Jace, he didn't. He probably got sidetracked. I'm sure he'll be home by morning. Go to bed. I'll stay up and watch for him with Simon," Isabelle said.

"Fine. If he comes home, you wake me up, promise?" Jace said, turning away from the window.

"Promise. Get some sleep, Jace. I'm serious," Isabelle said.

"G'night," Jace said with a yawn. He looked out for a last time, but there was no sign of his _parabatai._

* * *

_**If you're wondering why Alastair made a comment about Alec's name, Alastair is a Scottish variant of Alexander. And yes, I did that intentionally. I love names. (My other fish are named Loki, Weiryn, and Skif, and my cat is Darla). ANYWAY... Two updates in the space of less than a day? WTH? Next chapter... *giggle* Yes, there will be a llama. A drama llama. **  
_

_**And as for Magnus throwing away all his glitter, he'll get it back eventually. **_

_**~Firefly**_


	5. Scindere

**_Fair warning: This chapter is depressing, but it has fun gay Jaceness. Also, Soulfire would like to remind you that I am not a published author, therefore there is no way I could own TMI. If I did... DO YOU THINK THIS STORY WOULD BE NECESSARY?_  
**

* * *

**_scindō, scindere, scidī, scissus-cut, tear, rend or break asunder; carve; split, divide or separate by force._**

* * *

**Moving On**

Chapter 5: Scindere

Alec woke to find himself lying flat on his back looking up at a dark ceiling. A face popped into his vision, one he didn't recognize, but it wouldn't have mattered much anyway, it was covered by a clear mask that distorted the features.

_I'm just dreaming. It's fine. I'm at home, and Jace or Isabelle is about to come wake me up,_ Alec thought. But when the person standing over him tugged at his wrists, he realized that no, he wasn't dreaming, and more than that, he was bound to a table of some sort, as if he was in a horror movie.

_I'm going to die,_ he thought. It wasn't the first time that particular thought had crossed his mind, but it was usually in the heat of battle. And with it came a well of feelings, fear of dying, sadness for his family that they'd lose him, and a whole mix of emotions he couldn't name, but that mostly surrounded Magnus.

"Ah, you're awake little Shadowhunter. I must admit, I always envisioned the boy Valentine raised as being a little sturdier. You're a little waif of a thing, Jonathan," the man said.

"What? Huh? Who are you? What am I doing here? I'm not Jonathan," Alec babbled, his mouth feeling as if it were full of cotton balls.

"You're not Jonathan? Well then who are you?" The man seemed skeptical.

"Al-Albert Penhallow," Alec said, not wanting the man to realize he was the son of the head of the Institute.

"Well Albert, I have a problem. My master bade me get Jonathan-raised-by-Valentine, but I can't seem to find him."

"He's uh, in Britain at the moment, sir," Alec said, hoping that if he was polite and flattered the man, he'd release him. "But I know how to contact him if you'd let me go get him!"

"I can't do that." The answer was terse and flat.

"Can you at least let me sit up?" Alec asked. He couldn't feel his feet or hands because of the bindings.

"I…am… not sure. I can bind you to a chair if that is more to your preference," the man said, as if he wasn't in control of himself.

"That would be much more to my preference," Alec said. _If he ties me to a chair, I have a much easier way out._

"Very well. Let me get a chair," the man said before disappearing from Alec's field of vision.

He returned shortly and unbound Alec from what seemed to be a hospital bed, tied his hands behind his back, and released his feet. When Alec sat up, all the blood rushed into his head and he nearly fainted. Whatever had knocked him out was apparently not out of his system, as he suddenly felt dizzy and nearly vomited. But he had a chance at escape this way. The man, who told "Albert" his name was Blaine, tied Alec to a chair, his feet bound to its legs and a rope tied around his midsection, while his hands were left free.

It was a stupid mistake, leaving his hands like that. He easily slipped the ropes over his head after Blaine left the room, and as he bent to untie his feet, he actually did throw up, covering the tile floor. His vision was grey around the edges as he stumbled to the door and pushed it open, checking in both directions. When there was no one, he progressed, supporting himself with the wall, until he somehow made it to a flight of stairs and out of the building.

He had no idea where he was, but he randomly started walking before a cab stopped and told him to get in, that the cabbie was going to take him to a hospital. Alec, even delirious knew he couldn't go to a hospital, so he gave the man an address, and said, "Take me home." The cabbie nodded when Alec threw a fistful of money at him, and took Alec to the place he had specified.

* * *

Magnus was awakened by a buzz at the door. He groaned. He had thought he had finally got it through all his clients' thick heads that he wasn't to be bothered outside of business hours. It was three in the morning.

He stumbled to the intercom and growled, "Who dares disturb the rest of the mighty Magnus Bane?"

Instead of the desperate "I need a hangnail removed! You must raise the Angel now!" response he was used to, a voice thick with exhaustion muttered, "Mag-nus…help…me." He knew that voice. He'd heard it a thousand times saying that. _He_ was standing outside Magnus' apartment, begging for help. Magnus knew he should stick to his resolve and deny the bastard entrance, but he couldn't. Alec was too important to be left stranded on the side of a New York street in the middle of the night.

He heaved a sigh and pulled on a pair of shoes before going down to get Alec. He expected to find him drunk, but when he reached the bottom of his building, Magnus saw Alec slumped against a wall, head between his knees.

"Damn you," Magnus muttered. He stepped forward and scooped Alec up. Magnus might have looked spindly, but he was quite strong enough to lift an eighteen-year-old boy, one who had not been eating, if his resemblance to a feather was to be believed. Alec's eyelids fluttered, and Magnus smelled the drugs on his breath. What the hell had happened?

He wasn't equipped to deal with this, and he knew that in Alec's state, he probably hadn't even realized he was coming to Magnus'. He wouldn't remember when he woke up, if he was back at the Institute. As much as Magnus craved this contact, however warped, he knew it was better for Alec if he didn't know that he had gone to Magnus first.

With the Shadowhunter deposited on his couch, Magnus reached for his phone and scrolled through the contacts until he found "Lightwood, Crazy Brunette", right below "Lightwood, Shiny Boy". He pressed call, and hoped to whoever was listening that Isabelle would pick up.

When she did, she was, understandably, not pleased. "What do you want at this unholy hour of the morning, Bane?"

"I wanted your charming presence," Magnus drawled, unable to help himself.

"I'm hanging up now, and assuming you've just drunk or sleep dialed me," Isabelle said.

"Hold on a minute. I've got your brother lying on my couch. I have no idea how he got here," Magnus hastily interrupted.

"_What?_" Isabelle exploded. "What did you do to him?"

"Nothing. He showed up five minutes ago, begging for my help. He was nearly passed out on the sidewalk. Oh, and he smells of drugs," Magnus said.

"Drugs? Like pot?" Isabelle asked, and Magnus heard noises in the background, as if she were getting up, which she probably was.

"No, more like someone tried to knock him out," Magnus said.

"Oh Angel, what am I going to do with that boy? Simon, Jace, and I will be over as soon as we can get out to retrieve him. If he snaps out of it, don't do anything rash," Isabelle said.

"Very well. See you then," Magnus said.

Isabelle hung up the phone, and Magnus turned back to Alec. He was now unconscious, but he occasionally muttered things, some of which were too low for even Magnus' warlock hearing to pick up.

True to her word, Isabelle showed up with a posse not a half hour later. Magnus admitted them, garnering a few choice glares from Jace.

"Nice shirt, shiny boy," Magnus finally snarked to him.

Jace looked down to find that he was wearing the first shirt he had grabbed, which happened to be the same one of Clary's that he had given to Alec. He pointedly ignored Magnus after that. Simon and Jace each took one of Alec's arms and draped them over their shoulders while Magnus spoke to Isabelle.

"Thank you, Isabelle. I didn't know what to do with him," Magnus confessed.

"Actually, thank you, Bane. We were getting worried. Now we're going to have to figure out exactly what happened. Did he say anything?" Isabelle said.

"Just 'Magnus, help me.' He's been unconscious most of the rest of the time. No, wait, he did mutter something about 'Jonathan-raised-by-Valentine' and a 'Blaine'," Magnus said.

"Goodbye Bane," Isabelle said as she followed Jace and Simon out the door.

"Goodbye Isabelle," Magnus said, holding the door in his right hand. "Oh, and Isabelle?" Isabelle turned to look back at him. "Don't tell him he showed up here. Just tell him he stumbled into the Institute, all right? It'll be better for his healing."

Isabelle narrowed her eyes at him, and nodded.

"Thank you, Isabelle. Goodbye." Magnus closed the door on them with what felt like an unwanted finality. He knew he'd never see them again. In fact, it was probably time for him to be moving on anyway. The High Warlock of Chicago had expressed an interest in Brooklyn, and it seemed like a good trade.

That idea fixed in his head, he shut off the lights as he stumbled back into his bedroom. He expected to fall asleep immediately, but he found himself thinking of those dangerous blue eyes and a voice murmuring "Magnus, help me" and, what he hadn't told Isabelle, "I love you, I'm sorry." His heart, so recently nearly stopped, split further.

* * *

**_That turned out a lot longer, and a lot better than I was expecting. Also. I PROMISE you a happy ending. This story doesn't have enough crackfic in it yet! I think the next chapter needs to be some! Anyone else as depressed as me? I'll leave cookies out for you all. Your choice, the vending machine has everything._**

**_Also, as a clarification, in the chapter with the gang, Magnus wasn't actually going to find Alec right that minute. He was lost. He was going to somehow creep on him, or something (because he's a stalker like that), but he found himself in a rather unsavoury part of town. He totally could've taken them on his own. _**

**_I really love writing Isabelle and Magnus (because they're both fabulous) and Jace and Magnus (because Magnus can make fun of Jace). _**

**_I've realized with this story how addicting and fuelling reviews are. My fingers were literally itching all day to write this, and I didn't get a chance to start until 10 at night, and it's now...1 in the morning. BUT IT'S WORTH IT! Yes, I do write these and post them directly after I do so. Not the best idea ever, but... it makes everyone else happysauce. _**

**_I'm going to stop now before this author's note becomes a novel itself._**

**_~Firefly _**

**_P.S. If you haven't heard it yet, the Lightwood Llama Song. Look it up on YouTube. It's hilarious. _**


	6. Hünrosa

**_YAY! Another chapter. Obligatory disclaimer._**

* * *

**_Hünrosa-to dream (Cornish)_**

* * *

**Moving On**

Chapter 6: Hünrosa

Alec woke to find himself lying flat on his back looking up at a white ceiling. A face popped into his vision, one he didn't recognize, but it wouldn't have mattered much anyway, it was covered by a surgical mask that obscured the features.

"Oh good. You're awake. Can you tell me your name and date of birth?" the woman asked.

"Where am I?" Alec asked, since the last time he had woken up with a masked person standing over him had turned out rather badly.

"You're at the hospital. Your name and date of birth?" she replied.

"Alexander Lightwood. October 17, 1989," Alec answered.

"And what year is it now?" she asked.

"2008…I think…" Alec said, a little unsurely.

"It is. I was just making sure you don't have a concussion. Can you tell me what happened? Your sister says you went out for a walk at 9 and at 3 in the morning, you turned up outside your house unconscious," she said.

"Can I see them, my family, before I answer that? And do you have a name?" Alec asked.

"Sure. They're in the waiting room, let me go get them. I'm Elowen Deverol. I'm a nurse on this floor. Just push that red button if you need anything," she said, turning towards the door.

A few minutes later, Alec was bombarded by his family, it seemed that the room would burst even though there were only five people, including Alec, in the room. Maryse was sitting in a chair by Alec's head, Jace and Clary were leaning against the counter, his arm wrapped around her waist, and Isabelle was sitting on the foot of the bed.

"Before you ask, you showed up banging on the Institute's door, and by the time I got out to see you, you were half-unconscious on the ground," Isabelle said.

Elowen reentered the room, carrying a cup of water and a few pills, Alec took them and swallowed the pills in one gulp. Elowen started to leave, but Isabelle stopped her.

"I… only half-remember what happened. I was walking, then this thing dropped over my head and everything went black, and I woke up lying on a bed with this guy standing over me, wearing a mask of some kind. He said he finally had me, and that someone told him he couldn't let me go. I told him I was not—who he was looking for," Alec explained, stopping himself from telling Elowen about the supernatural world. "I asked him if I could sit up, and he tied me to a chair, badly. I managed to escape, and hail a cab. The next thing I remember is waking up here."

"Well, Alexander, we think he used chloroform to knock you unconscious, and then you came to wherever he held you captive. The police want to talk to you later, but did the man have any identifying features? Did he say anything revealing?" Elowen asked.

"He actually told me his name… Blaise? Blake? Blaine? Blaine. It was Blaine," Alec said, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Thank you, I'll let you have some time with your family now, but they'll have to leave in an hour or so," Elowen said, closing the door behind her as she left.

"Damn, Alec. You know how to pick 'em," Jace said.

"What?" Alec said.

"Your adventures are always exciting. Who was this Blaine dude looking for anyway?" Jace said.

"You, I assume. He said… he said… 'Jonathan-raised-by-Valentine', which I guess could mean Sebastian, but I have the feeling it was you, shiny boy," Alec replied.

"Now _you're_ calling me shiny boy?" Jace said, exasperatedly.

"Sorry. He also didn't seem all that bright. He was confused a lot, like he was doing someone else's dirty work, and couldn't think for himself," Alec said.

"Lovely. It seems we'll never be rid of my father," Clary said.

"Oh, we will, eventually, ClareBear," Isabelle said.

"What is it with you people and nicknames today?" Jace burst out.

"I have a better question for you. Why am I in a mundane hospital instead of the infirmary at the Institute?" Alec asked.

"Honestly, we didn't know what was wrong. We'd normally have called in a warlock, but… given your present aversion to the species…" Maryse explained.

"What if it had been something mystical?" Alec asked.

"We would've dealt with it then. But it wasn't, and the doctor says you can go home as soon as they're sure this Blaine person didn't do anything else to you," Maryse replied.

Alec was about to reply, but Elowen bustled back in. "Time for everyone to leave, visiting hours are over, you can come back tomorrow. The doctors have given permission for _one_ of you to stay, in case he wakes up confused again. Which of you will that be?"

They all looked at each other. "Can you give us a minute, please?" Alec finally said.

"Sure."

"I'd like to stay, but I've got to get back to the Institute," Maryse said. "With your father in Alicante, it's nearly impossible to keep track of all the Downworld problems in New York and still raise three teenagers."

"I'll stay," Isabelle volunteered. "Simon said he and Jordan and Maia were going down to Jersey for the weekend, anyway."

"I should stay! I'm his _parabatai_," Jace put in.

"Jace, what you need is sleep," Isabelle chided gently.

"But you stayed up all last night waiting for him," Jace protested.

"That's true, but I also got up at 1 in the afternoon," Isabelle countered. "And I took a nap in the waiting room."

"What time _is_ it?" Alec finally asked.

"Nearly 8. You showed up at about 4. So, yeah, you've been out for a good 16 hours," Isabelle said. "I'll stay. Jace, you can take the first watch tomorrow, I promise."

"Fine. I'll go get the nurse," Jace said, resigning himself.

A different nurse entered, and Isabelle explained what was going to happen, and the nurse left, presumably to write it down. Maryse, Clary, and Jace said their goodbyes and goodnights, and left. Elowen returned, pushing a cart.

"This is a single room, but we've managed to cobble up a cot for you," she said to Isabelle. "What did you say your name was?"

"Isabelle Lightwood," Isabelle introduced herself, holding out a hand.

"I don't think we've been introduced. My name is Elowen," Elowen said, shaking Isabelle's hand.

"And I assume you've met this block of meat that calls himself my brother?" Isabelle said.

"Yes, I have. Alexander, right?" Elowen said.

"Please, call me Alec. Only my mother and—only my mother calls me Alexander," Alec said.

"Very well. I'm the lead nurse on this shift. It ends at 11, and after that, the lead nurse is Kate. The morning shift starts at 7, and is led by Ben. I'm sure someone will be in between now and then, and it might not be them, but if you have a problem, press that button, and a herd of us will come running," Elowen said.

Alec laughed weakly, "Thank you, Elowen."

"Try to get some sleep. If you're not out by the time my shift ends, I'll look into giving you something to sleep. You got a pretty serious blow to the head aside from the chloroform," Elowen said. "Isabelle, this cot is pretty self-explanatory, we just request that you don't put it right next to the bed where we can't get in between."

"Thanks for not making me sleep in a chair, however overstuffed," Isabelle said, stepping forward to unload the cot from the cart.

"No problem," Elowen said. She left, pulling the cart behind her.

Isabelle unfolded the cot, wrapped it in sheets and fluffed her pillow before taking the seat Maryse had vacated. "Anything good on TV?" she asked Alec.

A few hours later, Alec was half-asleep when Elowen returned, making her final rounds. She didn't seem to realize he was still awake as she checked his IV levels. He was starting to dream when he heard her mutter something, which he would later swear was, "Damn, Shadowhunter. What do they want from you?". She left, and Alec thought he saw the end of a tail swish out of the bottom of her skirt, but he could have just dreamt it.

* * *

**_It's been so hot this week I didn't even feel like writing. So now that it's not 2 billion degrees out (okay 103), I'm all kre8yve. _**

**_Originally this was going to take place in the Institute's infirmary, but as I spent the entire afternoon in the ER with my mother (she's fine, they think it might be Lyme, but it could just be a virus, she's on doxycycline), I was inspired to write in a hospital. Well... not WRITE in a hospital, but set something in a hospital... WHATEVER, you get it!_**

**_I'll take suggestions as to which language the next chapter's title should be in (in case you didn't notice, Scindere and Hunrösa are Latin and Cornish respectively (to tear asunder and to dream))_**

**_~Firefly_**


	7. Mwg

**_Mwg-smoke (Welsh)_**

* * *

**Moving On**

Chapter 7: Mwg

Magnus' doorbell rang, again. He was going to have to have that thing disconnected. Swearing under his breath, he answered it, surprised to find Elowen on the other end.

"What do you want, Elowen? It's the middle of the night," he growled.

"I thought you asked to know if any Downworlders came through the hospital," she replied.

"I did. Fine, come up. I'm not changing," Magnus said.

Elowen was sitting at Magnus' kitchen table drinking a tea ten minutes later. He was sitting across from her, wearing a skin-tight tank top that proclaimed he was "Sir Fabulous" and what appeared to be bright pink lamé hot pants.

"So who came through?" he finally asked.

"Well we had three today. A pair of werewolves who had apparently gotten in a fight over a girl, who turned out to be sleeping with the brother of one of them. And a warlock who tried to raise a demon, but set his couch on fire in the process. And we had a Shadowhunter. They don't normally come to the hospital, since they have adequate facilities at the Institute, but this one was attacked with chloroform and it looked like someone took a bat to his head," Elowen said, sipping her tea.

"How is he?" Magnus asked, casually. Too casually, Elowen thought.

"He should be fine, provided his captor didn't inject him with anything else," she said.

"He's going to get in over his head one day and not be able to pull himself out. It's all my fault, you see," Magnus started.

Elowen suspected his cup held more than just tea. "How is it your fault?"

"I broke up with him, which caused him to be wandering the streets with what was probably a hangover layered over a concussion. And then this morning he shows up on my doorstep at three in the morning. They would've lied to you, because I asked Isabelle not to tell him that he came here first," Magnus said, drinking heavily of his "tea".

"Oh. Well, she's staying with him tonight. If you want to go see him in the morning…" Elowen said.

"NO! I can't see him. He must think I've moved on for him to heal. That's why I've decided I'm moving to Chicago. The High Warlock there is going to switch places with me. The movers are coming next week. I promise I'll write. Now you've just worked all day, since I _know_ you did a double shift. Go home and get some sleep."

"I will, but do you mind if I call for a ride? My friend's in town, and he's cheaper than a cab," Elowen said.

"Sure, do you need a phone?" Magnus asked.

"Yes, please," Elowen said. Magnus handed her the cordless phone that resided next to his microwave, and she dialed a number.

"Yes, hello, Alastair? Can you do me a favour?" she said, her voice changing.

"Yes, it's Elowen. I was hoping you could give me a ride home. I just got off shift and visited a friend for a little bit, and I don't feel like walking."

"Thanks, Ali. I'm in Brooklyn."

"Yes, I'm at the magnificent Magnus Bane's residence." At this Magnus chuckled, and Elowen winked at him.

"Fifteen minutes? Thanks again Ali. See you then."

She returned the phone to Magnus, who raised an eyebrow. "What? You didn't know I wasn't a native born American?"

"It doesn't surprise me. I'm not, myself, but you've got no trace of another accent. I've been living here since the turn of the century, so I've had more than a hundred years to cultivate this fine Ah-meh-reekan accent. Where are you from?" Magnus asked.

"Three guesses. And I want specifics. I'll tell you my whole life story eventually," Elowen said.

"England obviously, but not London. Cardiff?" Magnus said.

"I do _not_ shag sheep, thank you very much," Elowen said, seeming affronted.

"The only Welshman I ever spent much time with didn't seem to enjoy copulating with mutton. In fact, he seemed intent on American warlocks… Anyway, Yorkshire?" he said.

"Jumping all over the map, are you? You were closer with Wales," Elowen laughed.

"I spent a century in England and I can't— _Cornwall_. You're Cornish, aren't you?" Magnus realized.

"Yes, I was born in 1789. I look good for my age, I know," Elowen said, bouncing one of the dark curls that rested on her shoulders.

"You know Alastair?" Magnus asked, changing the subject to the other thing that intrigued him about the conversation he'd just heard.

"We're both from the UK. Of course we know each other," Elowen said.

"That's bullshit, and you know it," Magnus said.

"I was kidding, Maggie. Take it down a few notches," Elowen said, holding up her hands defensively.

"Sorry, I'm still a little on edge," Magnus said.

"Yes, I do know Alastair. We met in London about 10 years ago. He was still a child then. But he saw me the day after he arrived in New York, when he came to the hospital with a nasty gash, that apparently he sustained in a gang fight, defending none other than your own magnificent carcass," Elowen said.

Magnus' snappy reply was cut off by a ringing of the doorbell. "That would be your Scottish ride, wouldn't it?"

"Oh probably. I guess I'll go now. Thanks for the coffee," Elowen said, standing.

"No problem. Don't get hit by a bus on your way out, El," Magnus said.

"I'll try. Oh, and Magnus?"

"Yes?"

"Good luck in Chicago."

"Thanks, El."

She nodded and left, leaving Magnus alone again to contemplate the dark tunnel that was the rest of his endless life. Chairman Meow jumped up on the table and took a sip out of Magnus' tea, which was liberally laced with whatever alcohol had been in that bottle. Apparently it was enough to get the cat drunk in the little that he had drunk, because the next thing Magnus knew, his pink fluffball was keeled over on the table, mewing pathetically.

It was so comical that Magnus felt the laughter bubbling out of him, even at the same time he didn't wish to have it come. He started laughing hysterically, and fell out of his chair, to begin rolling on the kitchen floor. And there he fell asleep, the quietest sleep he'd had in weeks.

* * *

Elowen got into Alastair's car and closed the door behind her.

"He is well?" Alastair asked.

"Yes. Magnus will get over it, eventually," Elowen replied as Alastair pulled the car away from the curb.

"And the Lightwood boy?"

"He should be fine. He's not to know that you know me, is that clear?" Elowen said.

"Yes ma'am," Alastair replied with a mock salute.

"Good."

A few minutes later, Alastair deposited Elowen outside her Manhattan apartment, and she thanked him before going inside. She unlocked the door and climbed the stairs, as the elevator was perpetually out of service, and went into her home. As the door closed behind her, the wards on the room sealed, and she relaxed. She never did feel safe when she wasn't home or shielded, but she couldn't very well remain shielded all the time, anyone who could See would see her lit up like a flashlight.

Throwing off her clothes, she grabbed the nearest dress she could find and unbound what appeared to be a furry snake from her waist. She placed it on the ground, and it slithered off to rest on top of her couch, where it assumed the form of a cat. Elowen pulled on the dress, and sat on the couch, grabbing a book that lay on the end table.

"You know, you really shouldn't claim to be Cornish. It's getting old, and there are stories of the pixies getting angry that you're using their home turf," the cat remarked.

"It's easier to explain being a Cornish warlock than what I actually am, Ailill, and you know it," Elowen said, not looking up from her book.

"Whatever. It's not my fault when you find yourself marauded by pixies," Ailill said, licking his forepaw.

"Tell you what, after Magnus leaves, we'll get up and move on. To the West Coast or something. You'd better start coming up with better name suggestions than the ones you had this time. Wenna and Tecca my ass. And I will be Irish this time, dammit! This American accent is hard to maintain sometimes. Get a move on, kitty! I'm going to bed if you need me," Elowen said, rising.

"Fine. And by the way, _re'th kyjyewgh hwi._ Night!" Ailill said, disappearing.

"I never want to know where he said that. I really don't," Elowen muttered as she went to bed.

* * *

**_DUNDUNDUN! Or something. Yes, Magnus dyed Chairman Meow pink. He's starting to regret getting rid of the glitter, I think. Oh I have things I really should be doing instead of writing fanfiction, like sleeping. But I took a nap from 11 to 5 today, so I'm really not tired. :D_**

**_If you're wondering, Ailill says "Go fuck yourself" in Cornish. (Unless anyone has a better translation...). Because he's sassy like that. Elowen is not all she appears, BY the way. _**

**_~Firefly_**


	8. Dorchadas

**_Dorchadas-Darkness (Gaelic)_**

* * *

**__Moving On**

Chapter 8: Dorchadas

The sounds of cartoons brought Alec out of a dream of tailed nurses and Jaces with pink bows on their heads. Isabelle was sitting on his bed, practically pushing him out, eating cereal out of what appeared to be some kind of medical container.

"Iz? What are you doing?" Alec asked, pushing his hair out of his face. He really needed a haircut.

"I could ask you the same thing. You're still growing that beard," Isabelle said, not peeling her eyes off the animated mice.

"It makes me look dignified," Alec said defensively.

"It makes you look like a scraggly rat," Isabelle retorted.

"Move over. You're taking up the whole bed!" Alec said, pushing futilely at his sister.

A nurse chose that moment to enter, and check Alec's IV. "Good morning, I'm Philip. How are you feeling?"

"Fine, I guess. I just have this deadweight in my bed that won't leave," Alec answered.

"No dizziness or odd vision?" Philip asked.

"Nope. I'm very hungry though," Alec said, realizing it had probably been almost two days since he'd eaten.

"I'll see what I can do about that," Philip said, leaving.

Isabelle followed Alec's gaze as the nurse left and said, "You were totally checking out his ass!"

"I was not!" Alec said defensively.

"Right," Isabelle said smugly.

"Even if I was, you can't deny that you were too," Alec said.

"Of course I was. And a fine ass it was," Isabelle said, continuing to shovel cereal into her mouth.

Alec shook his head and covered his face with his palms. "There are some things you just don't need to say, Iz."

Philip came back into the room carrying a tray. He put it down on the table, and left.

"Well that was rude," Isabelle commented, before getting off the bed and pushing the table over to Alec. The tray contained a myriad of dubious hospital food, some of which Alec thought might have been around when his grandparents were born, from the way it wiggled. They exchanged a look before Isabelle reached into her bag and handed Alec a granola bar. "This, at least, should be safe. That milk looks fine as well. I don't even want to know what _that_ is," she said, poking a green gelatinous goo gingerly.

"I think it's supposed to be Jello…." Alec said, inhaling the bar in three bites.

"Well... I don't want to know where they got it then," Isabelle concluded.

There was a knock at the door, and Jace's blonde head poked in, followed by his entire body, and Clary's as well.

"Ooh! Breakfast!" Jace said. "Are you going to eat that Jello, Alec?"

"Uh, wasn't planning on it. I don't think it's edible. Look at its wiggling!" Alec said.

"Whatever, it's still food," Jace said, proceeding to consume the entire cup.

"I don't know what you see in him, Clary," Isabelle said.

"At this moment, neither do I," Clary said with a horrified expression to match Alec's.

"Jace, if you die, I'm going to be very upset with you," Alec said. "I don't like the feeling when you die. It makes me nauseous. Although watching you eat that is making me nauseous as well."

"What's making you nauseous, Alec?" Maryse said, coming into the room.

"Jace is eating hospital food, and it's rather frightening," Isabelle said.

"Why would you do that to yourself, Jace?" Maryse asked, booting her daughter out of the cushioned chair.

"Because food is food," Jace said with a shrug.

Maryse just shook her head. Philip returned, and looked confused at the sudden influx of people into Alec's room, but didn't say anything. When he saw Alec's breakfast uneaten, though, he said, "If you don't eat that, we're going to have to put you on a nutritional IV, young man."

Alec held up his hands defensively. "I'll eat it. It's only been ten minutes."

Philip narrowed his eyes, but nodded. He left the room again.

"Something about that guy rubs me the wrong way," Isabelle said.

"I know. Jace, would you be willing to consume the rest of my 'breakfast'?" Alec asked.

"Sure. As long as you're actually going to eat _something_," Jace said, making an advance on the "food".

"I already did, Iz gave me a granola bar," Alec said.

Jace was already halfway through the breakfast sandwich by the time Alec finished his sentence. It was then that Alec, Isabelle, Clary, and Maryse noticed the large heart on the back of his shirt.

"Does that say what I think it says?" Alec asked Clary in a whisper.

"If you think it says _My boyfriend brings all the girls to the yard_, you'd be right. I can't even claim that's my shirt…" Clary said.

"Jace, honey, why does your boyfriend bring all the girls to the yard?" Maryse asked.

"What?" Jace said around a mouthful.

"Your shirt," she said, pointing.

"Um… ah… you see… it's Clary's!" Jace said.

"No it's not. I know _exactly_ where you got that," Isabelle said, her face darkening.

Luckily she was saved from having to explain that by the entrance of a doctor.

* * *

Elowen changed into her scrubs and wrapped an Ailill scarf around her neck. She wasn't scheduled to work today, but something seemed off, and with a Shadowhunter on the ward, if something went wrong, heads would roll, and hers would be one of the first on the chopping block. She sighed. She'd been hoping to get in a last visit with Magnus, who was apparently leaving in two days, but that didn't look possible.

Ailill purred comfortingly, but it didn't help much. Pulling on a jacket, she left her apartment, and walked the short distance to the hospital. This was one of the benefits of living in New York, everything was so close together. She would miss that, but figured she'd be back in a couple decades or so, and it couldn't be that different then, would it?

Entering through the revolving door, she walked past reception, and to the elevator, where she pressed the button that read "3". The musak was playing a faintly annoying version of Beethoven's Fifth when the darkness struck her. It wasn't a physical darkness, just something very _wrong_ in the aura of the hospital… and it was coming from the Shadowhunter's room. When the elevator finally landed, she jumped through the doors, and forced her way through a milling crowd of people to get to Alec's room, where she found nurses and doctors frantically working over a body lying prone on the floor.

* * *

**_It's so much easier to write Elowen than Alec, but I also think Alec's portion of this chapter seems forced. _**

**_In OTHER news, I wrote a... sequel... to _Wings That Fly You Higher Than Heaven_. It should be up right after this goes up. It's ah... awkward. EleanorGreen requested one like a week ago... and I need happy crackfic, so I wrote that. It's going to be the first in my dumping ground... That sounds bad doesn't it? But that's where all my crackfic (that's not Jace dying) will go. _**

**_Someone stop me. Also, what are everyone's favourite piano pieces?_**

**_~Firefly_**

**_P.S. Go check out Matt Nathanson's _Faster_. It's totally Magnus and Alec's song. Youtube /watch?v=ZyjQFdeFox8_**


	9. Putain

_****__**Just as a warning, Magnus' portion contains a lot of the word fuck, so if you're easily offended... I'm confused as to why you're reading a notsosmutty and slightlyangsty slashfic anyway... **_

* * *

_**Putain-Fuck, dirty whore (interjection) (Vulgar French)**_

* * *

**Moving On**

Chapter 9: Putain

Magnus taped the box shut, managing to get his finger caught, yet again. He cursed in fluent French. He was independently wealthy, why didn't he just hire people to pack up for him?

Because it was all so fucking symbolic, wasn't it?

He unstuck his finger, and tossed the tape roll across the room, narrowly missing a mirror that was leaning against the wall. He swore again, and stalked toward the door, grabbing his coat and keys on the way out. He slammed the door shut behind him, and heard something glass shatter as it hit the floor. He smiled grimly.

Stomping down the stairs, he nearly broke the front glass doors with the force of his slam. It was night, apparently, and he could see his breath in the cold air. He briefly considered going back for a scarf, but decided it wasn't worth the effort. What he really wanted right now was a hotel room. He needed to get out of the fucking apartment, and out of this whole fucking city. The last time he'd been this angry, he'd nearly gotten into a brawl with a gang, but this time would be different. He had a plan.

He was going to go find a hotel, get the best room they had, order everything on the room service menu, and eat it all. Then he was going hire a man to come up and give him a week in the hotel while Magnus moved. It would make him feel better about himself, he was sure. Of course it wouldn't. But it sure as hell would make whomever he hired, probably some poor homeless bastard, feel _great._

Because Magnus felt anything but great. Apparently, seeing the love of your life show up at your door half-dead and unaware of what he was doing made you depressed. Magnus had considered skydiving, but he probably would be tempted not to pull the chute and just keep falling.

He rolled his eyes. Yeah, he, the great Magnus Bane, was going to kill himself over a heartbreak.

_It's not just _a_ heartbreak, it's _the_ heartbreak, you damn fool._

He was so wrapped up in his thoughts he didn't notice the man following him until he stepped in front of Magnus.

"So you're Magnus Bane, eh?" he said.

"What's it to you?" Magnus snarled.

"You're the one I've been sent for. I already met your friend Albert, but I think you're the next avenue," the man said.

"Who the fuck are you?" Magnus said.

"My name is Blaine. Does this smell like chloroform to you?" the man asked, as a rag was shoved in Magnus' face, and his vision went dark.

* * *

They wheeled him away in a stretcher, and Maryse and Clary went with him while Alec and Isabelle stayed behind. There was still a crowd of people in the room, but they were soon herded out and Elowen was left standing there. She looked at the siblings, then closed the door gently.

"What I'm about to tell you does not leave this room. Is that clear?" Elowen said.

Isabelle and Alec nodded.

"I'm well aware of your situation, Nephilim. There's something you need to know," she began.

Isabelle opened her mouth, but Elowen held up a hand to forestall the question.

"Now's not the time. I got a call early this morning from Alastair Southfire. There's a major disturbance in the Downworld, and it's all linked to whoever it was that tried to kidnap you, Alec. And now people are starting to go missing, among them Magnus Bane," she said, watching Alec's face for a reaction.

He sucked in air but said nothing.

"There's something else Magnus told me that you don't know Alec, but that he asked Isabelle not to tell you. Isabelle, would you like to tell him?" Elowen said.

"I guess it would be best coming from me," Isabelle sighed. "Alec, when you escaped, whatever you told that cabbie, he dropped you off at Magnus'. Magnus called me at 3 in the morning and I came and got you before we took you here."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Alec asked.

"Because Magnus asked me not to, he said it would make the healing process that much harder," Isabelle said.

"Fuck Magnus. You should've told me. Now we've got to go get him," Alec said.

"Excuse me? We have to go get him? You don't seem to be in any shape to go anywhere," Isabelle said with a raised eyebrow.

"Actually, he's fine. The chloroform is out of his system, and he's got nothing else," Elowen provided helpfully.

Isabelle rolled her eyes. "Fine. I know you've got some moral need to go rescue him, but we do need to get you released from the hospital and then find out what in the hell is going on with Jace."

"Isabelle, I think I love you," Alec said.

"Of course you do, Alec. Elowen, do you think you could spring him?" Isabelle asked.

"Sure. Alec, I need you to sign this form, and you'll be on your way. You are a legal adult, aren't you?" Elowen said, holding out a clipboard.

"I'm almost nineteen," Alec said, absentmindedly signing the paper.

"You're good to go. Your clothes are on the counter over there, and as soon as you've got them on, I'll take you to find the angel one," Elowen said, taking the clipboard and Alec's chart out of the room with her.

"What the hell was that?" Isabelle said as Alec rolled out of the bed and pulled the IV out of his arm. She handed him his clothes and turned around while he pulled them on.

"I think she's a warlock. Last night I think I saw a tail poking out of the bottom of her skirt," Alec said, buttoning up the shirt. Apparently someone had brought him new clothes, as he remembered wearing jeans and a tee shirt when he had left the Institute.

"Well that would explain something of her," Isabelle said.

"What?" Alec asked.

"Nothing, it's just strange that she showed up at the exact right time," Isabelle said.

"Well, there's no explaining _some_ warlocks," Alec muttered.

Elowen returned and led Alec and Isabelle to Jace and their mother, who were in the ICU, where Jace was still unconscious.

"Do you have any idea what it was?" Maryse asked Elowen.

"I don't know. Did he eat or drink anything suspicious recently?" Elowen asked.

"Well, he ate all of Alec's breakfast, including some shady Jello," Isabelle said.

"And that nurse seemed very insistent that I eat the whole thing…" Alec said.

"What nurse? And _how_ insistent?" Elowen asked.

"He said his name was Philip, and after ten minutes, he came in and threatened to hook me up to a feeding IV," Alec said.

"We don't have any Philips on staff," Elowen muttered. "Ailill, would you go check with Alastair?"

Alec and Isabelle stared as her scarf grew a head, nodded, and popped out of being.

"Don't ask. He'll just give you a headache. I'm going to go find this Philip character. I think I know what happened," Elowen said.

"And Jace?" Alec asked.

"If I can find Philip, we might be able to wake him up. For now, I think you have someone to rescue?" Elowen said.

Alec sighed. "I guess so."

After Elowen left, Maryse asked, "Who do you have to rescue Alec?"

"Apparently the same people who kidnapped me took Magnus, and I'm going to forever regret it if I don't go rescue him, so I have to," Alec explained.

Maryse raised her eyebrow but said nothing.

Alec looked at Isabelle and she picked up the bag that rested at Maryse's feet. "We're going to the Institute first. We'll get Alastair to go with us and go with way too many seraph blades. And we'll take our phones."

"I can't stop you, although I'd like to," Maryse said. "But I can tell you to be safe. Sebastian has already taken one of my children, tried to kill one of them, and has designs on a third. Be safe, will you?"

A tear formed in her eyes as she got up to embrace her children.

"We'll try Mom," Alec murmured.

And with that, Isabelle swung the bag over her shoulder and left, Alec right behind her.

* * *

_**This was totally written a week ago, I swear, I just suck at finishing things. Seriously, I'll write a whole 1000 words then stop and three days later add on 200 or so and publish it. **_

_**Anyway, after watching pirated Avengers this afternoon... um... I'm kind of in a fangirly mood, so here. I can't stand this thing much longer, and now I have new characters bugging the back of my brain (Yes, I'm talking to you Bo and Sanna). So... good news! This should be finished within 5 chapters, I HOPE. Although there might not be the Sebastian ass-kicking I want, there WILL. BE. FLUFFY. MALEC. I COMMAND IT!**_

_**Ahem.**_

_**~Firefly, who is about to go beat off Bo and Sanna with a stick. A long stick. And that totally sounds like a masturbation joke... but I'm a girl! YES! A GIRL WHO WRITES SLASH! WE'RE SO RARE! [/saracasm]**_


	10. Waiting

**_I'll explain this long hiatus at the bottom._**

* * *

**_Waiting-The action of staying where one is or delaying action until a particular time or until something else happens. (English)_**

* * *

Alec's fist pounded on the door for the third time.

"It's no use Alec, he's not here," Isabelle said, turning back toward the elevator. Her phone rested lightly in her left hand, and she nearly dropped it when it started making noise that sounded like a nuclear warning alarm. Alec raised an eyebrow at the ringtone.

She answered it, "Yes?"

Alec looked at her, and she mouthed "Clary".

"He's waking up? Has that nurse Elowen said anything to you?" Isabelle asked, starting to pace. "What do you mean Jace is blind? Oh hell. Well, if something else happens, call me or Alec." She paused to let Clary say something. "Goodbye, tell Mom and Jace we love 'em, okay? Bye." She hung up the phone.

"Is that really Clary's ringtone?" Alec asked.

"No, it's Jace's. She was using his phone. Apparently, he's awake and blind. Clary said Elowen's scarf is back, and it told her that Alastair was going to call us," Isabelle said, as her phone began to ring again, this time a sci-fi noise. The name displayed was Alastair Southfire.

"Hello?" she answered, putting the phone on speaker.

"Elowen told me I was tae call ye," Alastair's voice was tinny. "Ailill says she says that whatever was in the Jello caused yer brother temporary blindness and he should get better eventually. I've asked some of my contacts around here. They said the cab Alec hailed picked him up on 76th. I don't know if that helps…"

"It does. Did they say anything about Blaine?" Alec asked.

"Oh, hello, Alec," Alastair said. "No, they dinna. But dinna fash yerself. I've an idea of where to find the bastard. I'll call ye again if it pans out."

"Thanks, Alastair," Isabelle said, but he had already hung up. "Have I ever mentioned how much I love Scottish accents?"

"Once or twice. But don't you already have a vampire boyfriend?" Alec inquired as the elevator doors slid open to admit them, an old woman giving them an odd glance as she exited it.

"Well, yes, but that doesn't mean I can't have fantasies," Isabelle sighed.

The elevator reached the street level and they exited to the street. "Now where to?" Alec wondered aloud.

"I've got an awkward question to ask you," Isabelle said, hesitatingly.

"Well, it can't get much more awkward than me last year," Alec sighed.

"That's true. Did you and Magnus… you know?" Isabelle asked.

Alec blinked. "Well, yes, but what does that have to do with anything?"

"It makes this whole thing a hell of a lot easier," Isabelle said, starting down the street.

Alec ran a few steps to catch up, and said, "It does? What?"

"I have a few friends," was all Isabelle would deign to say.

* * *

Half an hour later, Alec found himself sitting on a bench in a rather shady office, reading a _People_ magazine. He had no idea what why he should care that this celebrity wore that dress, but it was better than trying to three star Angry Birds again. Isabelle had led him into this building, instructed him to sit, and went to talk to the receptionist. She had returned a few moments later to sit next to him, then the receptionist had called one "Gracielou Freebush", and Isabelle had followed her into a hallway behind a door.

Alec glanced at his watch again. She had been in there for nearly twenty minutes. He sighed and tossed _People_ aside, stretching as he leaned back, his muscles twinging at the movement. The front door to the office opened and two people dressed in calf-length trench coats and fedoras swept in. They also approached the receptionist, and sat down on the row of chairs opposite Alec. He pulled out his phone and pretended to be interested in it while sneaking glances at them. He wasn't quite sure, but he could have sworn that one of them was sky blue and the other lime green. They glared at him, and he quickly returned his attention to his phone. Isabelle had some interesting "friends".

She finally came out of the back of the office ten minutes later, and the interestingly coloured fellows went in. As they were leaving, Alec glanced over his shoulder again, to see what was most definitely a set of wings on the receptionist.

"What the hell was that?" Alec asked when they were what he judged to be a safe distance away.

"That, my dear Alec, was a Downworld therapist," Isabelle said.

"Downworlders have therapists?" Alec asked incredulously.

"They have feelings too, you know," Isabelle said.

"Yes, I'm all too aware. I believe that's what got us into this mess in the first place," Alec muttered darkly. "But anyway, what does a Downworld therapist have to do with my… sex life and finding the Great and Powerful Magnus Bane?"

"Dr. Pollack knows where I can find a… person with a specialty in tracking," Isabelle said.

"And where would that be?"

"Perth."

"Perth. As in Perth, Australia?" Alec asked, his right eyebrow making a beeline for his hair.

"Yep," Isabelle replied.

"And exactly how does this help us?"

"Luckily for us, I know someone who can get us to Perth in a heartbeat."

"Heaven and stars above, you are crazy," Alec muttered.

"I try," Isabelle replied, flouncing ahead a few steps.

As they returned to the Institute, Alec was surprised to notice the time. They had left the hospital a little after 8 that morning, and it was now almost 12. Isabelle disappeared almost as soon as they entered, leaving Alec to wander toward the kitchen. He opened the fridge to find not much but processed cheese product and overripe nectarines. He finally scrounged a frozen dinner out of the freezer, popped it in the microwave, and sat down at the table with a can of soda. It occurred to him then that he hadn't heard from his mother, Clary, or Jace since he'd left the hospital, so he pulled out his phone and flipped to the contacts section. After a moment's deliberation, he tapped on Clary's name, and pressed "Call".

Three rings in, she picked up. "Hi, Alec," she said. "How's it going?"

"I've had better days," Alec sighed. "We haven't got any real leads yet, but Izzy has a plan."

"That's good. I assume you called to inquire after Shiny Boy's condition?" Clary said.

"Well, yes," Alec said.

"Here, I'll hand the phone to him," Clary said.

After a moment's pause, Jace's voice said, "Well, isn't this quite the pickle?"

"How do you feel, Jace?" Alec asked.

"Well, I feel like I've tousled with a Mack truck," Jace said.

"Didn't someone once say you could do that easily?" Alec said, standing up and trapping the phone between his face and his shoulder as the microwave beeped.

"Well, yes, but it doesn't make it any more comfy," Jace replied sourly.

"Jace, you've recently died and been stabbed with a sword infused with heavenly fire. HOW CAN YOU SAY YOU AREN'T COMFY?!" Alec said.

"Calm your horses, dear," Jace said.

Alec rolled his eyes. "You know, sometimes I contemplate throwing you off a cliff to see if you would bounce or not."

"You wouldn't," Jace said. "What? Okay. Sorry, Alec. I have to go now. They're running some tests to see if they can't fix this whole being blind thing. I'll talk to you later. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"Bye, Jace," Alec said, as Jace hung up.

He was just sitting down with his lunch when Isabelle breezed into the kitchen, wearing her gear.

"Was that Jace?" she asked as she opened the silverware drawer.

"Yes. He still can't see, and they're running tests," Alec said.

Isabelle sat next to him, and dug into his pasta with a fork. "This is good."

"Yeah, I know. That's why I made it," Alec said, pulling it away from her. "There's another one in the freezer if you want it."

Isabelle pouted, but rose to make her own.

"By the way, why are you wearing your gear?" Alec said between bites.

"I'll tell you that later. Finish your lunch, go take a shower and put on your own. Oh, and shave that scraggly rat off your chin. No one likes it, and it makes you look ridiculous," Isabelle said.

"I like it," Alec muttered to himself.

* * *

An hour later, they were standing at the front door to the Institute, armed to the teeth with seraph blades and the like.

"So why are we wearing gear again?" Alec inquired of his sister.

"Where we're going, we might need it."

"And where exactly is that?"

"Well, I know a guy, who knows a faerie, who knows a unicorn, who can get us a Portal to Hell," Isabelle replied casually.

"A… Portal to… Hell," Alec repeated.

"Yep," Isabelle said, opening the door and stepping out. "You coming?"

"I guess so," Alec sighed. _We've got an errant warlock to rescue._

* * *

**_Author's Note: I'll be honest. I abandoned this story. I started it as therapeutic and cathartic fanfiction after COLS, and after a few months, I was over that angst. But the other day, an anonymous review reminded me of this story. And so I wrote another chapter. I realized how much I missed updating something like this, and then eagerly sitting around waiting for reviews. So here's chapter ten, appropriately titled_ Waiting.**

**_As for the future of this story, I can't promise I won't abandon it again. But I think the end is in sight, so stick around for a while. Besides, _Clockwork Princess_ is due out in a few days, so I will probably be all Magnussed up by that point. _**

**_~A Very Apologetic Firefly. _**


	11. Soliloquizing

_**Soliloquizing-to utter a soliloquy; talk to oneself. (English)**_

* * *

The hours seemed to pass both interminably and immediately. Magnus could see the clock that hung on the wall opposite his chair. He could also see a window that appeared to be at street level, and every so often, feet would pass by, or a bike, or a skateboard. The night soon lightened into day, and the amount of feet increased. The high heels and bare ankles became slacks and shiny dress shoes. A few paws even entered the picture.

His captors came down into the basement every two hours, approaching from behind, and gave him a drink of water. Once they blindfolded him and led him to a bathroom. The first time they came, Magnus had attempted to bite one of them, but was rewarded with a slap and withholding of water.

Of course, he'd also tried magic, but it simply wouldn't work. He could only hope someone had noticed his absence.

* * *

Alec's fingers tightened around the hilt of a seraph blade as they approached what was an inexplicable cave in the middle of Central Park. The thing had appeared out of nowhere as they had crossed what Isabelle had pointed out as a mushroom ring. It was one of the strangest things that Alec had ever witnessed, and that was saying something. They entered the cave, and a white form stepped forward.

_Hello, Alec,_ a voice said in his head.

Alec jumped, nearly dropping the blade that had sprung out of its sheath.

_Sorry. I forget sometimes that not everyone communicates this way. My name is Seranthon, _the voice said.

"Uh… I'm glad to meet you?" Alec said, more a question than a statement. He squinted to see the white shape past the darkness, and it finally resolved itself into a somewhat equine form. With a large horn coming out of its forehead.

"Alec, I take it Seran introduced himself to you?" Isabelle said cordially.

"Yes, he did," Alec said, his voice still somewhat shaky.

"Good. Now Joseph told me that you could get us to Australia and back," Isabelle said, turning to the Unicorn.

_I can. But I need the name of the person you're trying to get to, and it's going to cost you something_, Seranthon said.

"Her name is Cady Fraser. She lives in Perth, Australia. What's your price?" Isabelle said.

_For you, Isabelle, three strands of your hair. And for Alec… I… do not know. This is highly unusual. Something within you is blocking a Reading. A great loss is usually the explanation, and while that is certainly a part of it, you are also fighting tooth and nail to find what it is you've lost and put it right. Which is why you're going to Australia. Hmm… _Seranthon said.

Isabelle reached up and plucked the three strands of hair from her head, draping them over Seranthon's proffered horn. "So, what is it going to cost Alec?"

_You know Elowen Deverol, yes?_ Seranthon said. At Isabelle and Alec's nods, he continued, _I've not spoken to her in some five hundred years or so. Your price, Alexander Lightwood, is to bring here to me. _

"I don't know if I can do that," Alec said. "And especially not right now!"

_That I understand. I know of why you seek to use the Portal, and its urgency. So what is about to happen is most unusual. I'm going to place a spell of binding on you. It will allow you to complete your task. But you must bring me Elowen within a year, or you will perish. I am giving you one chance to walk away from this, as you must have the choice of free will. _

"I understand and accept your binds," Alec swore formally.

_Very well. _Seranthon said.

A Mark appeared on Alec's forearm in the form of a tree, and he glanced up at the Unicorn.

_This will disappear when you bring me Elowen,_ the Unicorn said. _You may now step through the Portal. It will drop you into Hell. This is the most dangerous part. The Gateways are generally well guarded by an Angel or two, but sometimes they aren't. Especially now that the Downworld is in an uproar, and it is said that there will soon be a Demon uprising in the Underworld. You must quickly pass through the Gateways. The next portal, the one that will take you to my counterpart in Australia, is the one framed in gold vines. It is imperative that you take this one, and this one only. Another will drop you into a land that you sincerely don't want to go to. Oh, and one more thing, those blades are only good for their sharpness in Hell. You won't be able to name them there, the same way you couldn't use a demon blade in Heaven. Sometime I really must educate mortals on the intricacies of the Cosmic Balance. Now, safe journeys!_

He stepped aside to reveal a mirror. Alec glanced at Isabelle, who looked at the mirror. "You first," she said.

Alec shrugged, and stepped toward the glass. He pressed his hand to its surface, and though he'd expected it, it still shocked him that it passed through. He flung his whole body forward, and found himself in what looked like a large basket. Isabelle was right behind him, and looked around at their surroundings.

"Where _are_ we?" she asked.

"I think we're in a handbasket," Alec said.

"We're going to hell in a handbasket?" Isabelle groaned.

"Yep."

* * *

The basket began to move and they were soon unceremoniously dumped out. Isabelle sprang to her feet, and pulled her brother up to stand beside her. She regarded the seven mirrors in front of her. It was obvious which one they were to take, but the others seemed to sing.

And suddenly the air split with a shrieking cry. She looked up to see a pair of wings descending on them with alarming speed. She grabbed Alec's arm again, and flung him toward the mirror. He slid through just as she felt hands grabbing her shoulders.

Alec stumbled out of the mirror and into another cave where he caught himself on the wall. He blinked a few times before he turned to Isabelle, and found that she wasn't there.

_I'm sorry, Alec. She didn't come through, _a decidedly feminine voice said in his head.

"What do you mean she didn't come through?" he roared.

A Unicorn stepped out of the shadows, her head bobbing as she walked. _She was grabbed by something as she threw you into this mirror. I do not know where she is now, all I can tell you is that she is still alive and not in any imminent danger of dying. _

He sat down with a thump. This wasn't supposed to be happening.

_I'm Cariel. I can tell you how to get to Cady Fraser, but we need to move fast. You've crossed a large portion of the world, and it's almost night here. It's really not safe to be out after dark in this part of Australia. Unfortunately, the leylines tend to run away from human habitation, and where there are leylines, there tends to be more magical activity, which attracts more… unsavoury things, and it's just a big mess. I can protect you, being the corporeal embodiment of Heavenly Fire and all, but it still behooves us to move quickly, _the Unicorn said.

"I… what? Leylines? Corporeal embodiments? What?" Alec stuttered.

_The magical world is bigger than you think, young Shadowhunter,_ Cariel said.

Alec took a deep, shuddering breath. There was nothing he could do to help Isabelle at the moment, so he needed to do what he was here for. "Right. Cady Fraser. How are we getting there?" he asked.

_I don't suppose you're a virgin?_ Cariel asked, hopefully.

"Er, well, no…" Alec mumbled.

_Damn. If you don't mind my asking, what exactly have you had relations with?_ Cariel asked.

Alec flushed fuchsia. "A male warlock."

_Good. For the intents and purposes of my Unicornness, you're still a virgin. Get on. _Cariel said. With a toss of her mane, a saddle appeared on her back. Alec, face still hot, clambered clumsily into it.

_Don't grab my mane, if you please, young one._

"Sorry."

Cariel rose on her hind feet, whirled, and rocketed out of the cave in a single fluid movement. Alec had seen the Unicorn, of course. She was definitely not a horse, resembling something more along the lines of the freakish love child of a pony, a goat, and a deer. And she moved like a deer. The gait mostly involved an extremely jarring, bouncy hop.

_How are you doing? _Cariel asked.

"Well, I feel like I might see my lunch again, if that's what you're asking," Alec muttered.

_Sorry, I would walk, but the demonic activity is particularly high since you came through the Portal. _Cariel said.

"So, what you're saying is, I caused this," Alec said.

_Yes, unfortunately. It'll calm down in a few days, but you probably won't be here to see that. And, if you look over there, you'll see a troop of kangaroos. _

Alec looked, his eyes wide.

Cariel turned into a thicket, which, from the inside, was obviously man made. It was designed to look natural from the outside, but was actually an easily defensible fence. She slowed to a trot, then a stop, and Alec dismounted, the saddle disappearing as he did.

A woman stepped out of a well-concealed hut, and walked toward them.

"Cariel, what have you brought me now?" she asked.

_Cady, this is Alec Lightwood. Alec, Cady Fraser. _Cariel said. _He's here to ask about finding someone._

"Lightwood… I was contacted yesterday by an Isabelle Lightwood. Any relation?" Cady asked.

"She's my sister. We were at the Gateways when she tossed me through a mirror, and she didn't come through herself," Alec said.

"Ah. I'm sorry. But, time is of the essence. What can I help you with?" Cady asked.

"I'm looking for someone who was kidnapped. I think he's still in New York, but other than that, I have no idea where to look," Alec said, spreading his hands.

"You're looking for the High Warlock of Brooklyn, yes?" Cady said. "Please, come inside. Cariel, would you like to come in, or wait out here?"

_I'll wait. Your house always gives me the creeps._

Alec followed Cady into the hut, which was just as creepy as Cariel had said. Skeletons and things in jars lined the walls, the ceiling was strewn with drying herbs, and the whole place was pervaded by a smell of old things, must, and lavender. Cady gestured to a seat, and Alec sat down in it.

"Tea?" she asked.

"No, thank you," Alec said.

Cady poured herself a cup, mixed in the sugar, and finally sat down across from Alec at the table. "I know where he is. But, it's going to cost you something to find out. And I don't know if it's yours to give," she said after a moment.

"What is it?" Alec said, eagerly.

"There is a package, sitting on his kitchen table. It was given to him by Elowen. I need you to get him to use what it contains. And this is not only your price, it may just save his life," Cady said.

"I think I can do that, but what if I can't?" Alec asked.

"Your price is _not_ that he must use it, for that would interfere with free will, but to try your hardest to get him to use it," Cady said.

"I think I can do that. If I can find him, that is," Alec lied. He had no idea of how he was to convince Magnus, who wouldn't even have the smallest of conversations with him, to take something that seemed to be life-altering.

"He's here," Cady said, pointing at a map. "That's New York. I don't suppose you have a more exact map, do you?"

"I have a digital one, if that will work," Alec said, reaching into his pocket, and pulling out his phone.

"Splendid."

Cady snatched the phone from him, zoomed into the map, and handed it back to him. The location displayed was a building not ten blocks from Magnus' apartment. They had been so close.

Cariel took that moment to stick her head in the hut. _Are you ready to leave yet, Alec? Dusk is almost over, and I really hate having to fight my way through demons just to get home. _

"I am," Alec said.

"Just a moment, if you please," Cady said at the same time. She vanished behind a hanging curtain into a room Alec only caught a glimpse of, and returned a moment later with a wrapped package. "Do you know a blonde Shadowhunter in New York named Jace?"

"Of course I do. He's my _parabatai._ How do _you_ know him?" Alec asked.

"It's a long story. Just return this to him, if you would," Cady said. "Consider it Cariel's payment."

"So, I can leave now?" Alec asked, anxious to get back to New York, and find Isabelle, Magnus, and Jace, in that order.

"Yes," Cady said, gesturing dismissively toward Alec and Cariel.

Alec left the hut, remounted the Unicorn, and held on for dear life.

_Do you know the time difference between New York and Western Australia? _Cariel asked Alec.

"No," he replied shortly.

_It's about 12 hours. This means that between the Portals, and another travel through Hell, you'll probably end up back home at about 11 in the morning. It's 7:30 in the morning there now, _Cariel explained.

"So, I've lost almost an entire day?"

_I'm afraid so._

"Damn."

They arrived back at Cariel's lair, having only heard the cry of a few demons, and spotting what she said was a pack of dingos.

_The Portal you took to get here will get you back. I must urge you _not_ to look for Isabelle in the Gateways. She's not there, and you're only going to get yourself snatched. Seranthon will help you find her,_ Cariel said as they stood before Cariel's Mirror.

Alec nodded, and gritted his teeth. He knew the Unicorn spoke the truth. He wouldn't find Isabelle that easily. But it still grated on him to have to rely on beings he didn't know to find her.

"Goodbye Cariel," he said as he stepped through the mirror and into Hell.

* * *

There was a similar ride in a handbasket, which dropped him at the Gateways. He looked around for a brief moment, and saw something lying on the floor. He bent to pick it up to find that it was the scarf Isabelle had been wearing this morning.

There was blood on it.

He hastily shoved it in his pocket, and moved toward the mirror that seemed to thrum. As he jumped through it, he felt something grabbing at his foot, then everything went grey.

* * *

He woke to see a pair of turquoise eyes staring down at him from a long, equine face.

_I see you made it back. Unfortunately, you lost your shoe _and _your sister. _Seranthon said.

"Cariel said you could help me find her," Alec said, scrambling to his feet, and finding that he had, indeed, left his left boot in Hell.

_I can. She'll come at the moment you most need her. Do not fear for her safety now, for she is with the Good Ones. I cannot say more on the subject._ Seranthon said.

"Finally. Something that will shut a Unicorn up. Do all your kind have that penchant for soliloquizing?" Alec asked.

Seranthon only blinked at him silently.

* * *

_**Can I just say HOLY HELL regarding Clockwork Princess. I won't spoil it for those of you who haven't read it, but way to have your cake and eat it too, eh? And Jace really is the pinnacle of all awesomeness, at least according to the family tree. Which spoils the "who will Tessa get with", in case you're wondering. Feh. **_

_**Regarding this: I do like it. As Will said "We're Shadowhunters. We believe all the old stories. They're all true." I almost didn't have Isabelle disappear, but after a little bit of waffling, I decided on a plan for getting her back. She'll be back in the next chapter. And so will Magnus. Don't hold your breath for a reunion scene just yet, though. I've got a little more angst to get into Malec before we get SUPER FLUFF... even though I love super fluff.**_

**_Oh, and I've discovered Tumblr. Yep. My life is gone. (fireflyslove . tumblr . com)_**

**_~Firefly_**


	12. Seat of Your Pants

**_(To fly by the) Seat of Your Pants-Decide a course of action as you go along, using your own initiative and perceptions rather than a pre-determined plan or mechanical aids. (colloquial English)._**

* * *

Alec took stock of his situation. He had to go back to the Institute, before he did anything else. For one thing, he needed another shoe, and for another, he was going to need help. If he'd had Jace, Isabelle, and Clary handy he might have been able to take the people who were holding Magnus, but he couldn't alone. Jace was, presumably, still blind, Clary was with him, and Isabelle was _somewhere._ He might be able to convince Clary that she wanted to come, but unless Isabelle suddenly showed up, he was essentially on his own.

As he exited Seranthon's cave, he noticed that it was, indeed, almost noon. And he hadn't eaten in approximately 12 hours. Yet another thing he had to do before he could get cracking on the rescuing. The pavement in New York wasn't the softest or cleanest surface on the earth, and Alec's foot noticed this almost immediately. The demon had left him his sock, but it wasn't particularly thick. He sat down on a bench and, cringing as he did so, cut off the bottom of his pant leg. He tied it around his foot in a sort of boot. The fabric of the gear was tough enough that it would protect his foot from the rocks and Angel knew what else that was on the ground.

He stood, and began to stride quickly toward the Institute, hoping to make it there before something else disastrous happened.

* * *

Isabelle was aware of a sense of flying, though she couldn't see anything. It was so very _cold _here in Hell. She'd always thought of it as a place of fire and brimstone, but it made sense for it to be cold, in a way. Fire was a thing of Heaven, as Jace so clearly showed. Of course Jace was the product of a good deal of Heaven. She remembered the summer she'd spent when she was 14, tracing her family heritage. She'd seen a family tree of the Shadowhunters, and it had shown one Jonathan Herondale (presumed at the time to be dead in infancy) as the product of a rather unusual union of the only known half-Nephilim warlock and a Shadowhunter, and not only that Shadowhunter, but his _parabatai'_s cousin as well. And she and Alec were descended from that same Shadowhunter family as well. In fact, she had spoken to Magnus at length about his time in Victorian London a few months back, and he had told her much of the story of how that came to be. It seemed an awful choice to have to make, to choose between best friends, but in the end, the choice had been made for the warlock.

These thoughts drifted through her head as she flew over the frozen wasteland of Hell. Isabelle couldn't see the ground, or much of anything, really. But she was aware of the moment when they passed from Hell to Earth, and suddenly everything swung into sharp focus. She was somewhere over mountains, and they were moving with an astonishing speed below her. The being carrying her began to slow, and soon landed atop one of the mountains, depositing her down before coming to land before her.

_ISABELLE SOPHIA LIGHTWOOD? _It asked her.

She stared at it, gape-mouthed, but nodded.

_YOU ARE NEEDED._

* * *

Magnus slept in short shifts, never more than an hour or two. His captors had not given him any more drugs, only checked on his bindings at regular intervals. He knew he had been here nearly three days, at this point, and his hopes of being rescued dwindled with each passing hour.

Thoughts drifted freely through his head, always returning to Alec. Their fight and break up seemed years ago, not a mere fortnight. It all seemed so frivolous now. They could have discussed it like adults… and worked something out, but since he was likely to die in the next few days, he spent an afternoon working through situation after situation in his head about how he would have that conversation with Alec. And none of them turned out how he hoped.

* * *

Alec rushed in the front door of the Institute, and nearly tripped over Church. He cursed at the cat and hopped down the hallway, pulling his makeshift boot off as he went. He actually did run into Clary, who was coming out of the kitchen holding a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

"Where the hell have you been, and what happened to your shoe?" she asked.

"Central Park, Hell, Australia, and back. I lost the boot, and Isabelle, in Hell," Alec said, as he darted into the kitchen and yanked open the fridge.

"You did… what?" Clary asked, shaking her head.

"Well, I know where they're holding Magnus, now. And apparently, Isabelle was taken by beings known as the 'Good Ones', at least according to Seranthon," Alec said. He found a sandwich in a Tupperware container marked _Property of Jace, Touch Under Penalty of Death_, pulled the cover off, and consumed it in five bites.

"Who is Seranthon?" Clary asked, now sitting at the table.

"The Unicorn who guards the Portal in Central Park. Really, it's a very long story, and I'm rather in a hurry. I don't suppose you've seen Alastair, have you?"

"He's sleeping in one of the spare rooms. Maryse is at the hospital, Jace is still blind."

"Well, that's unfortunate. But as long as he's not dying at the moment, he can be my second problem. Have you brought him any more questionable clothing?"

"Well…" Clary said.

* * *

Less than two hours later, Alec, Clary, and Alastair stood outside the building that Cady had indicated was the place where Magnus was being held. Alec had put on new pants and boots, but he felt rather naked without Jace standing beside him.

"So, what are we going to do here?" Alastair asked.

"Well, this place has a front and a back door, and might have basement exits to the adjacent buildings. I don't know if the people who took him are mundane or magical, so we should assume magical. Clary, you go around to cover the back entrance, Alastair, you and I are going to casually stroll in," Alec said.

"Do you think we should peer in the basement windows, first?" Clary asked.

"Huh. That hadn't occurred to me," Alec said. "Yes, I do think we should."

Magnus passed the time when he wasn't thinking about Alec by staring out the window. He had noticed three pairs of oddly booted feet walk by a few minutes ago, Shadowhunter boots. He had hoped for a moment that they were coming to rescue him, but no sounds came from upstairs.

And then a single pair returned, and knelt by the window. A tightly bound braid of red hair hung down nearly to the ground as its owner looked in the window with a pair of very green eyes. They saw him, and widened. He nodded vigorously, not wanting to make noise for fear of alerting his captors.

Clary's head turned and said something over her shoulder, and then looked back. She was mouthing something, but he was too far away to make out what it was. He shook his head, and she tried to exaggerate more. _How…many. _Magnus nodded his understanding and mouthed back _Three_, but she shook her head.

This wasn't going to work. He tried another tactic. He nodded slowly and deliberately three times. She held up three fingers, and he nodded again. She turned to tell whoever was with her. Another pair of boots appeared next to her, and also knelt to peer in. It was not, as he expected, one of the Lightwoods, but instead the Scottish Nephilim who had helped him beat off the pack of thugs. He said something to Clary, who looked back to Magnus, and shook her head. Alastair looked at Magnus and mouthed a word that looked like _Others_. He cocked his head, making the word a question.

Magnus thought back to when he had last been turned around, and nodded. Another exchange told them how many (five), and the Shadowhunters rose again, so all he could see was their boots. And then the door to the basement opened.

It had taken a very convoluted method, but Clary had managed to glean that there were at least three men holding Magnus and five other captives. They were in the basement, and Magnus, at least, was sitting bound to a chair.

"So now what?" Clary asked into the silence.

"Well, we obviously have to get them all out. It's unfortunate we couldn't learn who or what they are," Alec mused.

"So, we're going seat of pants method?" Clary asked.

"Unfortunately," Alec said.

"Seat of pants?" Alastair asked.

"You know, flying by the seat of your pants?" Clary said.

"Ah," Alastair replied.

"What's more important, getting the people out or catching the captors?" Alec asked, clearly making it an actual question rather than rhetorical.

"The people," said Clary.

"The captors," said Alastair at the same time.

"Sorry, Alastair, I'm agreeing with Clary. These people need to be seen by medical personnel. We don't even know if they're mundanes or not," Alec sighed after a moment.

"Then let's see if we are able to do both, aye?" Alastair said.

Alec chuckled at that. "So, Clary, you go in the back, Alastair you and I will go in the front. If you meet one of the kidnappers, attempt to knock him out. Don't kill anyone unless it's absolutely necessary. These people are only the middlemen at best. We need to find out who is in charge of them."

Clary nodded and quietly slipped down the alley beside the building, and presumably around and into the back. Alec counted to thirty, and gestured to Alastair to precede him up the stoop. The Scottish Nephilim approached the door cautiously, and tested the handle.

He jumped when it turned, not expecting it to be unlocked. Alastair looked back to Alec who shrugged, and gestured for him to open it. The door swung open with nary a squeak, and they stepped inside, closing it behind them.

The building was deep and narrow, only one room wide, and they were standing in a hallway that had two doors on the right side, and emptied into a kitchen. They went toward the first door, testing for squeaky floorboards as they went.

Alec opened this door, and stuck his head inside. There was one person, a young woman, bound to a chair, a gag over her mouth. Her eyes were wide with fright as the door opened, but when Alec, and not one of her torturers entered, they became pleading. Alec nodded, and quickly crossed the room to her. Putting a finger on his mouth to signify silence, he quickly removed her gag.

"Where are they?" he whispered.

"Downstairs. They took a girl down with them. I think she's a werewolf," she said.

"What's your name, and what are you?" Alec asked. Usually, he would try to be more tactful, but sometimes expediency called for brusqueness.

"Brooke. I'm mundane. Are you a Shadowhunter?" Brooke said.

"Yes I am. When I untie you, could you walk out by yourself?" Alec asked.

"I think so. I've only been here for half a day or so, and they haven't had a chance to drug me like they have the others. Apparently whatever it is they're using works better in conjunction with adrenaline," Brooke said as Alec slit the duct tape on her wrists and ankles.

"How do you know so much?" Alec asked suspiciously.

"They aren't exactly quiet about what they're talking about," Brooke shrugged, as she stood, shaking her hands and feet.

"I want you to go outside and wait for us," Alec said.

"I'm still able-bodied. I can help you get the people out of the basement," Brooke said.

Alec sighed. "Normally, I'd argue against it all day long, but you're right, and there are too few of us."

Alec and Brooke stepped out of the living room to see Clary and Alastair returning from the kitchen.

"We found one in the kitchen, and he's going to have a massive concussion when he wakes up. Who is this?" Clary said.

"This is Brooke. She's mundane. I found her in the front room," Alec explained quickly.

"There's an upstairs, and a basement. That door leads to the basement," Alastair said, gesturing to the second door in the hall.

"I think we should sweep the upstairs together, then go down there," Clary said.

"Good plan," Alec said.

They went upstairs and found three bedrooms and a bathroom, all empty.

"To the basement," Brooke sighed.

"Aye, lassie," Alastair confirmed.

* * *

Sabrina trembled as she saw the men sticking the man sitting in the chair across the room from her with the needle. This one was bigger than the drugs they had been giving her, and it was a nasty green color. They turned to look at her, but didn't approach her with it.

"What's taking that idiot so long? How hard is it to get one little bottle?" the fat one muttered.

"I'll go see," said the slimy one.

As Slimy turned to walk up the stairs, the door at the top burst open, and four bodies hurtled down the stairs, a large man followed by two girls and a slightly built man, all wearing black, except for the blonde.

Slimy blinked his surprise for a moment before he reacted by punching the large man in the gut. He grunted, and the blonde girl cried out. The redhead grabbed a pipe from a nearby table and hit Slimy on the back of the neck with it.

By this time, the slender dark haired man had engaged Fatty, and looked to be winning Blonde Girl's yell caught his attention momentarily. Fatty took the opportunity to punch Dark Hair in the jaw and he stumbled back. Redhead, still wielding the pipe, approached Fatty, and hit him in the midsection, but the copious belly absorbed it, and she was slapped to the floor. Dark Hair rose and jumped on Fatty's back as Large Man ran up, brandishing a knife. Apparently Fatty had accounted for this too, and blocked the blow with his forearm, which was covered in a leather gauntlet. Fatty punched Large Man in the same place that Slimy had, and Large Man crumpled to the ground, holding his stomach.

All seemed lost as Dark Hair was thrown off Fatty's back and into the man in the chair. And then there was a bang, a cloud of smoke, and another woman appeared in the room.

* * *

Isabelle coughed as the smoke cleared and saw Alec thrown off of a very corpulent man and into a figure who was seated on the other side, Alastair curled up on the floor, and Clary scrambling to her feet. Her whip was out in an instant, and she caught the man's ankle, pulling hard as she did so. She expected him to fall, but only managed to get his attention turned on her.

He advanced with lumbering steps, and suddenly dropped. Alec stood over him, panting, a heavy pipe held in both hands.

"Welcome back, Izzy," he said. "Nice to see you."

* * *

_**Well, here we go with my crazy POV shifts. If you're confused by Sabrina's assignment of names, Alec is Dark Hair, Clary is Redhead, Brooke is Blonde Girl, and Alastair is Large Man.**_

_**As for the whole jaunt to Australia and Unicorns bit, I had actually written that before I read CP2, and Will's "It's all true" comment, but it only served to provide evidence that the Shadowhunter's world is wider than we might like to believe.**_

_**In any case, we're about to get less epic and more Malecy. I've got the rescue chapter, a sick Magnus chapter, and then the Reunion. Also, prepare for the return of Jace's sight and to find out why he's**_**really**_** been stealing Isabelle's Cosmos.**_

_**So do you think I need to go into Sebastian? I don't really want to...**_

_**Also, since I don't want to do work in a computer class, I write fanfiction instead... and the result is longer chapters. Longer chapters that ramble. **_

_**~Firefly**_


	13. Thirteen

**_Thirteen-Equivalent to the sum of six and seven; one more than twelve, or seven less than twenty; 13. (English)_**

* * *

"It's nice to be seen. I assume you got to Australia safely, then?" Isabelle said.

"Oh, yes, and the Unicorn there was very nice. How come you never told me you knew about Unicorns and the like?" Alec asked.

"You wouldn't've believed me," she said.

"Touché."

"Now, we've got two limp bodies, and how many captives?" Isabelle asked.

"Actually there's three limp bodies, one's upstairs in the kitchen," Alec replied. "As for captives, we have Brooke here, at least three others, and Magnus."

Brooke was bending over the large man that Alec had just beaned with the pipe, and rose holding a key triumphantly in her hand. "This should unlock the cages in the back there," she said.

"Alastair and I will go start helping them out. You two get Magnus out. What are we going to do with them?" Clary said.

"Well, I think the first step is going to be to call Elowen. She's likely to know if they need to go to a hospital or what. If they're mundane, that is. If they're not, I hope she knows how to treat them," Alec said.

Clary pulled Alastair up off the floor and dragged him toward the back of the basement. Isabelle and Alec turned to Magnus, who was now unconscious, and lying, still tied to the chair, where Alec had fallen on him.

"We have to get him untied," Isabelle said, scratching her head.

"What I want to know is why he's unconscious," Alec said.

"What, he wasn't before?" Isabelle asked.

"He was awake and able to communicate when we stormed the house. They were sticking him with whatever that is," Alec said, pointing to the needle that lay on the floor, still half-full of the mysterious green liquid.

Isabelle produced a knife and quickly cut the ropes that bound Magnus to the chair. Alec pulled out his phone and handed it to Isabelle.

"You call Elowen. I really hope she's expecting us," Alec said.

Isabelle nodded, and after a few moments of thumb flipping, she pressed 'Call', and walked away.

Clary and Alastair had opened the cell, and were supporting a faerie between them. Brooke followed the Shadowhunters, holding up a girl who seemed to be walking under her own power. When they reached Alec, the girl motioned for her to stop.

"I… need… blood…" she grunted.

Brooke and Alec glanced at each other and back at the girl.

"You're a vampire, then?" Alec asked.

"Yes."

"Brooke, get her a tarp from over there. We don't want her burning in the sun," Alec said. "I don't have any blood available at the moment. We can try to get you some, but it will probably be a few hours."

Brooke quickly released the vampire girl, hustled to the shelf that contained tarps, and pulled one out. As she did, a large, furry thing jumped out, and Brooke matched it, squeak for squeak. It shot by Alec's foot, and he grabbed its tail. He held up the rat to the vampire girl and said, "Will this do?"

* * *

Isabelle hung up Alec's phone and returned to where he was still crouched over Magnus while a vampire sucked the blood from a rat.

"Elowen says we should bring the mundanes to the hospital, and to bring the others to the Institute, where she'll meet us," she said.

"Good. Brooke, do you know how many other mundanes are in the cell?" Alec asked.

"Two, one can walk. There's an unconscious werewolf, plus the faerie that your friends just dragged out. Oh, and there's another mundane girl tied up over there," Brooke said, pointing.

"So that makes four mundanes, a werewolf, a faerie, a vampire, and a warlock. Five of whom can walk," Alec mused.

"Sounds about right. We should get the mundanes out first," Isabelle said.

"How are we going to get to a hospital or your Institute?" Brooke asked.

Alec paused in his attempt to haul Magnus over his shoulder and looked up at her. "That is a very good question."

Suddenly Alec's phone began to sing "Don't you wish your girlfriend was hot—". Alec snatched it out of Isabelle's hand and flipped his thumb at the screen to answer it.

"Hello?" he asked, walking away from the group, where Isabelle was dissolving into gales of laughter.

He returned a few moments later, and threw Magnus across one shoulder. "That was Jace. He apparently has his sight back, and I told him to bring the Mystery Machine here."

"Did I hear you say Jace?" Clary asked, as she and Alastair returned down the stairs.

"Yes. He has his sight back and is bringing the Mystery Machine here," Brooke said.

"What is the Mystery Machine?" Alastair asked.

"Oh, you'll see," Isabelle drawled, starting toward the mundane girl who was tied up in the corner.

* * *

Sabrina watched the proceedings with wide eyes, keeping as silent as possible. Dark Hair had hauled the small man her captors had injected with the green stuff over his shoulder, and was climbing the stairs. The girl who had appeared in the flash of smoke, Isabelle, Dark Hair had called her, was walking toward Sabrina, and she did her best to cower back in her chair.

"What's your name, little mundie?" Isabelle asked.

Sabrina didn't say anything.

"Okay, then," she said to herself.

She reached into her pocket and produced a knife, flipped the blade out and walked around behind Sabrina. Sabrina flinched and held perfectly still, until she felt her bindings slip away, and Isabelle returned to stand in front of her.

"I'm Isabelle, I'm a Shadowhunter. Do you know what that means?" she said, kneeling to cut Sabrina's ankle ties.

"No," Sabrina squeaked out.

"Well, that would certainly explain some things. Let's just say we're like… Buffy…" Isabelle said. "We're going to get you out of here and to a hospital, okay?"

Sabrina nodded, and tried to stand, but her legs failed her. Isabelle offered a hand, which Sabrina took, and pulled herself up.

"What's your name?" Isabelle asked.

"S-s-s-sabrina," Sabrina stuttered.

"Well, Sabrina, let's just get you up these stairs and outside," Isabelle said.

* * *

Less than twenty minutes later, Alec observed the motley crew lying, sitting, and standing in front of the brownstone. He, Isabelle, Clary, and Alastair were standing in front of the stoop where the two mudanes that had been in the cell, Isabelle's Sabrina, and Brooke were sitting. The vampire girl was hiding under her tarp, practically sitting in a bush; the werewolf and faerie were lying on the sidewalk, still unconscious; Magnus sat propped against the rail of the stoop, half waking. The captors themselves were trussed up like Christmas geese, or so Alastair had claimed, on the kitchen floor.

Alec heard the so-called "Mystery Machine" before he saw it. They had named the thing after the Scooby-Doo van, because it was all the Institute could afford on its budget that year. And it was a giant faded red van-thing. The back had been tricked out with a mini-armory, and the whole thing covered in spray-painted runes that had been traced over with a stele to make it as impervious as possible. It had been a fifteen passenger van, but the back two rows of seats had been removed, so it only safely seated seven. Alec quickly tallied up the number of people they had, four Shadowhunters, four mundanes, four Downworlders, plus Jace. Which made thirteen.

The Mystery Machine flew to a stop in front of the group, and Jace hopped down from the driver's seat. Alec heard Isabelle snicker. Jace was still wearing Clary's shirt.

"So nice to see you, sister dearest. I see you have quite the variety here. Where are we taking them?" he asked, casually leaning against the van.

"The mundanes, except Brooke, to the hospital, and everyone else to the Institute," Alec said quickly.

Jace nodded.

Isabelle hurried to open the door of the van, and Alec and Alastair picked up the werewolf, placed him on the floor of the armory, then the faerie and Magnus. The mundanes climbed into the first seat row, still a little woozy on their feet, Sabrina clinging tightly to Isabelle's arm. Clary and Alastair took the second seat row, sitting the vampire between them. Alec hopped into the driver's seat, and left a flabbergasted Jace calling shotgun before Isabelle could, resulting in the latter squeezing into the space between the front seats, grumbling.

"To the hospital, James," Isabelle ordered.

"As you wish," Alec replied, depressing the accelerator so the van sped away.

A few hours later, Alec stood with Elowen in the doorway of the Institute's infirmary, trying not to swear.

"The lycanthrope should wake tomorrow morning sometime, the fey one about the same time. As for Magnus," she said, scrubbing her chin, "I don't know what they gave him, he drifts in and out of consciousness. I'll take the vampire back to her coven. If something should happen between now and 8 tomorrow morning, call me."

"I will," Alec said.

As Elowen led the vampire girl down the corridor, Alec called after her, "Elowen?"

She stopped, and looked at him over her shoulder, "I'll go with you to see Seran, but not now."

Alec blinked stupidly after her. He stretched, and glanced at his watch. It read 5:06. It hardly seemed like dinnertime, but his stomach assured him it was. Checking once again on the sleeping forms of the Downworlders, he flicked the light switch, closed the door softly, and proceeded to the kitchen where Isabelle had said she would make dinner.

He entered with some trepidation, remembering the last time Isabelle had made food, and involuntarily glanced at the large brownish splotch on the ceiling over the stove that had been the result of said attempt.

Brooke and Clary sat across the table from each other, having a lively discussion on what seemed to be Jace's favourite subject—himself. He was reclining, the front two feet of the chair leaving the ground, and a clear plastic box dangled from his fingers. Alastair was nowhere to be seen.

Only Jace noticed his entrance, and put all four on the floor to turn on Alec.

"I assume you ate this sandwich?" he said drolly.

"Well, when you come and rescue eight people from kidnappers hell-bent on maleficence, while I'm blind, you're free to eat all of my food you can get your hands on," Alec replied.

"I'll take you up on that. After this whole Sebastian thing blows over, we'll schedule in a nice kidnapping, okay?" Jace said, taking a carrot from Clary's plate and munching on it.

Alec only rolled his eyes and went to look over Isabelle's shoulder.

"It's box macaroni and cheese. It can't be that hard to eff up, can it?" she asked, glaring at the pot of golden deliciousness in front of her.

"Well, you seem to be able to burn water, so we'll see about that," Alec said with a pat on Isabelle's shoulder. She turned and stuck her tongue out at him.

A chime sounded deep in the Institute, someone was coming in the front door, carrying something the doors considered unsavoury. Alec looked around the kitchen to find Clary, Jace, and Isabelle with their fingers on their noses.

"Nose goes? Really? What are you guys, twelve?" Alec sighed.

Isabelle nodded.

"You go get the door," Jace said, making flapping gestures with his hands.

Alec rolled his eyes again, and trudged out to the entrance. His mother stood there, holding something wriggling in her hands.

"Oh, Alec, it's so good to see you back on your feet, dear," Maryse said in her best "grandmother from a 50's TV show" voice. "Now would you be a darling and chop this wee beastie's head off?"

Alec reacted without thinking, reaching into a room just off the foyer and producing a knife, which he used to decapitate the snake-thing.

"What was that?" he asked. Maryse nudged the body with her foot disdainfully, and it twitched.

"Oh, nothing in particular. Just a little friend I picked up on my way home," she said.

"Hell of a friend," Alec said with raised eyebrows.

And then the fire alarm went off.

* * *

**_And here we are, chapter 13, appropriately titled as such. Jace is awake again (unfortunately)! The next two chapters are tentatively titled "Piano" and "Dance", and are going to bely the title of this story. I assure you, no one has moved on. I should probably feed Chairman Meow, though, shouldn't I? I'll have someone get on that. _**

**_As for this delay... well... it's TV finale season, I got addicted to Doctor Who, I had an AP exam, and I'm trying to not have to take finals. _**

**_In other news, I think I've discovered the song that describes how I feel about the end of COLS. (Lady Antebellum's _All For Love_). Also, thank you to tumblr for reminding me daily of this story. And that Simon should be coming in here sometime. And also apparently that Jace is Clary's sister. Yep. I'll just let you sit on that one._**

**_Much love,_**

**_~Firefly. _**


	14. Voices

_**Voice-The sound produced in a person's larynx and uttered through the mouth, as speech or song. (English).**_

* * *

"Oh, bloody, buggering hell," a voice said from the hall as footsteps pelted past.

Magnus sat up, rubbing his head as the shrill noise that had awakened him sounded again, making his whole head ring. He looked around, trying to discern his location, but the room was too dark. The last thing he remembered was Clary in a window of the basement, the men coming down, and sticking him with something. Wherever he was, it didn't smell like a basement, in fact, it was antiseptically clean.

The shrieking noise, which he now realized was a fire alarm, from the smell of the smoke that seeped under the door, finally stopped. He swung his feet over the edge of the bed and tried to stand, but his knees gave out from under him, and he sprawled on the floor with a loud thump. The commotion outside finally slowed, and the door opened to reveal a human figure whose features he couldn't make out because the light behind it nearly blinded him.

"Oh, you great lump of meat, what are you doing out of bed?" an annoyed female voice said, as the person stepped forward toward him. She turned her head and Magnus saw the familiar Lightwood features grace her face.

"Some lump of meat set off a fire alarm, and I found myself on the floor," Magnus snapped.

"Oh, well, you know what happens when I try to cook," Isabelle joked.

"And you still manage to have all of that beautiful hair?" he said, Isabelle's hands lifting him up and over until he slumped in the bed, then hauling his feet into it after him.

"Shut up and go back to sleep. You weren't supposed to wake up yet. Elowen's going to have our heads on platters. Well, Alec's anyway," she muttered the last bit as she left the room, and Magnus almost thought he dreamed it as the waves of sleep took him back again.

* * *

"What the hell was that all about?" Maryse asked furiously as she surveyed the wreckage that had been the saucepot.

"Well… Izzy tried to cook mac and cheese…" Alec ventured tentatively.

"And you let her? You _know_ what that girl does to kitchens. You or Clary couldn't have done it? Hell, _Jace _is a better cook than Isabelle," Maryse fumed.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Mom," Isabelle said, reentering the kitchen. "All the heathens are still in their beds, no harm done."

"Heathens?" Jace muttered to Alec.

"I don't know. I think she's been reading trashy romance novels again," Alec whispered back.

"I have, not that it's any of your business. Besides, whose stash do you think I've been raiding, Shiny Boy?" Isabelle snarked. Jace just blushed. Clary glared thoughtfully at her boyfriend. She had wondered where the books her mother liked to refer to as "soft porn" had gone.

"Well, I'm just going to have to throw this pot out now," Maryse sighed, ignoring the byplay.

"Do ye have to? Ye can't just give it a good scrubbing or sommat?" Alastair asked.

"Would you like to try, Master Southfire?" Maryse drawled at him.

"I'd be happy to try. Ye can't just go throwing things out because they're a little dirty," Alastair said, taking the proffered pan, and going to the sink. "I'm sorry. That was a wee bit brusque. Me mum taught me tae be thrifty as possible."

"It's a good philosophy, if you have the time to adopt it properly," Maryse sighed. Turning to Alec she said, "So. What did Ms. Deverol say about our 'heathens'?"

Alec snorted at his mother's use of the term. "She said they should wake up tomorrow morning sometime. She's coming back at ei-ei-eight," he said, stumbling over the last word as a yawn split his face.

"Well, that's good. You go to bed. You've been up for what, fifty six hours?" Maryse said.

"Give or take."

"Then go. We'll hold down the fort until morning and wake you if anything drastic happens."

Alec was about to object, but he yawned hugely, and his mother's glare convinced him he wouldn't win, even if he tried for the rest of his life. He stood, pushed in his chair, grabbed a banana and a bottle of water, and left the kitchen to hear Alastair say, "See that there? Good as new. Well, good as it was before Miss Isabelle got her hands on it." Alec chuckled.

* * *

Alec woke up to the sounds of people running down the hall outside his room, swearing in no less than five languages. He heard Isabelle's favourites, a few choice Gaelic words from Alastair (which he made a note to learn), Jace's staccato Latin swearing, his mother with _merde_, and another female voice that he didn't recognize. He rolled out of bed, pulled on the first clothes that came to hand, and opened the door.

"Alec! Thank the Angel you're awake. We seem to have lost a mundane," Clary said, coming to a halt in front of him.

"What? There weren't any mundanes here," Alec said confusedly.

"She showed up after you went to bed. About seven. I have no idea how she found the Institute," Clary said.

"Who showed up?"

"Brooke. The busty blonde?"

"I hadn't noticed the busty bit," Alec said pointedly.

"Well, Jace certainly did. I think he's trying to give excuses for wearing my shirt. Again. Because he is. Completely his choice. Anyway, Brooke's disappeared. Elowen got here about fifteen minutes ago to find the infirmary torn apart, the heathens on the floor, and Brooke gone. The werewolf, whose name is Jason, by the way, is awake and in the kitchen eating all of our meat. The faerie and Magnus are still asleep, but it looks like he woke up at least once. He was in a different pair of pants," Clary said. Alec blinked at the torrent of information.

"Where the hell did he get different pants to change into?" Alec asked.

"I'm pretty sure he stole some of Jace's. Or mine. At this point, he keeps wearing so many of my clothes it's hard to tell them apart. I mean, who knew a seventeen-year-old boy could fit into my skinny jeans? It's ludicrous," Clary said, clearly variation on a familiar rant of hers.

"Well, _I _can fit into your skinny jeans, but that's a completely different story," Alec said, running his hands through his hair, trying to get it to settle into something less resembling a bird's nest.

Jace skidded to a stop next to Clary. "She got out through the front door. _The front door! _Church didn't even try to stop her. What good is an immortal cat if he can't even stop one mundane teenage girl?"

"I don't think she's what she appears to be," Isabelle said, interrupting Clary's response.

"What?" Clary squawked.

"I agree," Alec said quietly.

"What?" Clary squawked.

"Do you remember how helpful she was? And knowledgeable. For a mundane she was pretty damn useful. And then look at Sabrina. The girl who was frightened out of her wits, the one that clung to Izzy?" Alec began.

"Exactly. The other two mundanes were out of it, and when they woke in the hospital, they spoke of monsters and demons. But Brooke was completely unfazed. Why would they take three uninitiated mundanes and one who knew what was going on? It seems fishy to me," Isabelle continued.

"And then she just up and disappears," Clary finished.

"She's not human," a lyrical voice said from behind them.

"What?" Clary squawked.

"I don't know what she is, only that she's not human," Elowen said, stepping into their circle, Ailill wrapped around her neck like a scarf.

"And how do you know this?" Jace asked her.

"Well, for one, I'm not human either," Elowen said.

"We gathered that a few days ago," Isabelle said.

"But I'm not what you think I am," Elowen said, trailing off.

Alec's question was interrupted by the front door crashing open and two bodies collapsing through, thrashing at each other.

* * *

"Oi! Get the fuck off me," a discordant voice shouted. Magnus woke abruptly, again.

His chest still hurt from falling off the bed, and his head pounded. He had somehow managed to change his pants during the night, into whose he did not know. The sounds of scuffling came from the hall, bodies slamming into doors. The door to the infirmary was inset with a large frosted-glass window, and when the combatants pushed up against it, it shattered inward, throwing them half-through it, still flailing about.

"Both of you! Stop it!" a female voice thundered. Pairs of hands grabbed the collars of the fighters, and pulled them apart.

"They broke the window, and that was _plate glass,_" another woman said.

"Yes they did. Alec, you and Alastair take Ms. Taylor here to a room. And don't leave her alone," the first voice, which Magnus recognized now as Maryse's, said.

Magnus swung his feet over the edge of the bed, and tried to stand, nearly losing his balance twice as he made his way to the door. He braced himself on the cabinet next to it, and glanced out the gaping hole. Clary, Maryse, Shiny Boy, Isabelle, Isabelle's boyfriend Sherlock there, and, to his surprise Elowen, stood around, glaring at each other.

"Would someone like to explain to me _why _I now have to repair my front door, and replace the window in this one? And all before nine in the morning?" Maryse steamed. "How did you even get through the front door, Simon?"

"Six impossible things before breakfast," Magnus muttered to himself. Apparently, Nephilim, vampires, and whatever the hell Elowen was had better hearing than humans, because they all turned to look at him.

"What do you mean?" Clary asked.

"What are you doing out of bed?" Elowen asked.

"What are you doing here?" Simon asked.

"Whose pants are those?" Jace asked.

In unison.

"Ellie, I heard yelling, and crashing. Simon, why don't you ask everyone else? Shiny Boy, I don't even know. I just woke up with them on. And Clary, haven't you ever read _Alice in Wonderland?_" Magnus said.

"Well… not really…" Clary said.

"Never mind," Magnus muttered.

"Magnus, do you have glass shards in your feet?" Elowen asked.

Magnus looked down to find that he did, indeed, have glass in his feet.

"Oh, bloody, buggering hell," he swore.

* * *

**_So, dearies, here we are, the end of chapter 14. I _am_ sorry that they're not longer, but, honestly, it would take me two months to write something I would consider "long" (ie~7,000 words). These chapters average 1800-2000 words, and I can write them in three (non-consecutive) hours._**

**_Anyway, I thing Piano and Dance are going to be chapters 16 and 17, because now I have to sort out exactly _why _Simon and Brooke were wrestling through the door. So, this story should reach its crescendo soon, hopefully by the end of July. _**

**_I wouldn't expect an update until sometime in mid-June though, because I graduate the 12th, and I'm busy with senior stuff until then, and probably won't have the time to write, between school, Tumblr, and my TV obsessions (see: Doctor Who and Avatar: TLA)._**

**_~Firefly, who rambles, even in her Author's notes. _**


End file.
